Hogwarts' ANBU
by Mayet
Summary: After Voldemort's return at the end of the fourth year, Dumbledore thinks it wise to better protect his school and students. For this purpose he decides to hire a few well known Shinobi... Full summary and pairings inside!
1. A new mission

**Hogwart's ANBU**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I don't own Harry potter, not matter how much I'd like to.**

**Summary: **

**While reading through old papers in Hogwart's library searching for spells to help protect his school, Dumbledore stumbles upon a book about shinobi. He decides to hire a seven men team from the hidden village of the leafe to guard the castle. How will Hogwarts deal with Anbu? How will the shinobi deal with Umbridge?**

**As for age: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru are 18, Neji is 19 and Kakashi 32 **

Pairings:

ShikaTema (engaged to be married- sorry ShikaIno Fans)

NejiHina (arranged marriage- yes I know they're cousins but this is the

Hyuuga family we're talking about! They do arranged marriages/

They're closer than in the series, though)

SasuSaku (slightly)

KakaSaku (friendship only, albeit a strong one)

KakaOC

**Chapter 1: A new mission**

Darkness encompassed the library of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hundreds of books were enclosed into the shadows of the night. A tiny light, created by the _'Lumos'_ spell, illuminated only a little corner in the giant room. An old man sat in said corner, his long silver beard tied into a knot and his bright blue eyes hidden behind half-moon glasses. Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the infamous Hogwarts had been looking up on spells that would protect his school from the newly revived Dark Lord, when he had stumbled upon an old book from the far east.

**The Bansen Sh********kai!**

Intrigued he had taken the old piece of literature and cast a translation spell on his glasses to read it. Upon opening the book to unveil it's secrets, he found a short introduction, that only helped to fuel his interest.

It said:

_**Everyone divides the world into good and bad, white and black**__**on some level**_

_**Mankind is good,**_

_**While Demons are bad**_

_**They say.**_

_**But if this is true, **_

_**If the world really is divided into black **__**and white**_

_**Then Shinobi are definitely grey.**_

_**They slaughter and steal,**_

_**They kidnap and torture,**_

_**Without so much as a second thought!**_

_**But they also protect,**_

_**And help and defend.**_

_**And sometimes they fight for a greater cause!**_

_**They're Demons if need be**_

_**Or Angels…**_

_**And this is their story**_

"Shinobi," Dumbledore murmured as if trying the word for size, while he turned the page to read on. And the more he read, the more interested he got. An idea came to him regarding the school's safety. Minerva wouldn't like it- even less than the other teachers.

'_Oh, well. They'll just have to get over it.'_

3333

"You can't be serious?!"

As expected, the Deputy Headmistress didn't like the idea at all, after being told, what exactly his plan contained. Looking into the faces of the other professors- Sprout, Flitwick, Sinistra etc.- he saw that they couldn't 'befriend' his thought either. Even Snape had an expression of shock plastered on his normally stoic face. The only one, who seemed calm about the whole deal was Alastor Moody, who- though not a teacher at Hogwarts- had been invited, because of his expertise as a former Auror.

"You're joking, right?" Minerva asked. "Dumbledore?"

"I'm completely serious." They looked at him as if he had gone insane- which(,) in their opinion(,) he had indeed!

"So, you want to… to hire Shinobi-," she spat the last word as if it was something foul and disgusting."Shinobi?! Trained assassins? Cold-hearted killers, who wouldn't think twice about slaughtering whole families?Every man, woman and even the children?!! Those people?! And you want to let them into the school, near the students? Near Potter? They wouldn't hesitate to kill him!" Her voice was high pitched and screeching now as she was going hysterical. The other teachers nodded in agreement. Snape even muttered something about the headmaster 'being irresponsible'.

"They're great warriors, though," Moody suddenly spoke up. "There's no one I'd rather have by my side during a fight. I've met a few of them some years ago. They're very capable and completely loyal to their mission once you've hired them…If you ask them to protect the school grounds without killing students, that's exactly what they will do! Until the mission is completed… or the contract broken….

"I'll leave the decision to you. I have to meet with Kingsley and Tonks above London- we're going to bring Harry in tonight(.)"

With that said, he closed the door behind him, leaving the rest of them to a brief but uncomfortable silence.

"It's decided then," Dumbledore said with finality in his voice. There would be no arguing.

333

(3 days later)

The honey-eyed Hokage took in the figures of the five men and woman before her.

Two missing.

Well, actually only one was missing as the seventh ANBU operative would join them only right before their departure. Which was in about seven hours. It was really on short-notice, but the client had just been informing her earlier that day.

_Flashback _

_Tsunade was looking through some documents and enjoying the cup of sake she'd previously poured, when a fluttering noise reached her ears and a feather brushed her cheek. She looked up only to find an owl sitting on her desk holding out one leg, so she could take the letter and the package from it. Raising an eye__-__brow__ she slowly did so. Upon giving the letter a once over, her __scepticism_ _only increased._

_Who would write:_

_**To: **_

_**Tsunade-sama; Godaime Hokage**_

_**Fire Country; Hidden Village of the Leaf**_

_**Hokage Tower, Top floor office**_

_Skeptical but intrigued at the same time(,) she opened the letter and read it over:_

_**Dear Tsunade-sama,**_

_**This letter has probably made you very ****suspicious**("You bet!")**, but I assure you I mean no harm. Quite the contrary. I intend on hiring seven of your finest Shinobi to protect my school and students from the threat of an evil wizard. Yes, a wizard. I am ****the**** headmaster of one of the three largest schools for western magic in ****E****urope, Hogwarts. Voldemort- the evil wizard I just told you about- has targeted my school several times in this past few years, one student ****especially****. His name is Harry Potter. Since Voldemort resurrected himself at the end of the last school year, I fear his attacks will be more insistent now. Therefore I would like to hire your Shinobi to keep the people residing in my school safe**** and watch out for Harry as he tends to get himself into trouble. Inside the package you'll find a portkey – a magical transportation device. It will activate exactly at 4 am Konoha time. Make sure all Shinobi touch the device by then. It will take your men to a safe house, where they will be staying until the school year starts.  
**_

_**That is, if you accept the mission request.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Albus Dumbledore, **_

_**Headmaster of Hogwarts School for ****Witchcraft**** and Wizardry…**_

_And some other titles, which Tsunade couldn't even begin to comprehend. She reread the letter twice, before being interrupted by a small whistle coming from the owl. The Lady Hokage looked up to find the owl still on her table, bristling. Tsunade raised an eye-brow and looked at the letter again. Maybe there was a clue in there as to what to do with the bird. She found it in form of Dumbledore's P.S._

_**P.S.: You might want to give the ****messenger**** owl something to eat as she's had a long journey. Afterwards****please ****send****her back with your answer.**_

_Grumbling, Tsunade had told Shizune to find a mouse for 'the beast' (the owl scowled at the term), before she turned the letter, scribbling the words 'I accept' on the backside. Afterwards she ordered Shizune to inform several ANBU that they were to assemble in her office in two hours._

"_But tell Wolf to come immediately. He'll be late anyway."_

_End Flashback _

And so now- two hours and fifteen minutes later- she was still sitting in her chair waiting for the sixth member of this little journey to arrive. Of course she had expected him to be late, but it still irked her.

Tsunade's eye-brow twitched in irritation.

The five young people took a step back. Four did anyway. The fifth was too oblivious to the danger he was in and was therefore dragged behind by the only woman in the room that wasn't Hokage. A pink-haired woman with a Lynx-mask covering her face.

"Ow, Sakura-chan! Why did you yank me back?! That hurt!" our favorite, if not a little obnoxious, blonde yelled . The sound was muffled by his Fox-mask.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched harder.

"Shut up, dobe" murmured a blue-haired man from behind his raven-shaped mask.

"You shut up, teme!"

Tsunade's hands gripped the table, while her eyes kept twitching dangerously.

"Both of you will shut up now, you troublesome people." A pine-apple head said.

"I agree with Deer. Be quiet," the last one- Eagle- added. His long dark hair bound loosely together at his back. Fox and Raven could practically feel the piercing glare from the white-eyed ANBU Captain.

"But teme said…" Fox began only to be interrupted again. This time by a very angry Hokage.

"SHUT UP! I HAVE A HANGOVER AND YOUR ANNOYING BANTER IS NOT HELPING!"

'Poof'

"Sorry, I'm late, but a black cat-"

"AND SPARE ME THE EXCUSES! I AM NOT IN THE MOOD, YOU LOUSY-OW, where does that ringing bell come from?"

Everybody sweat-dropped, but didn't dare to say anything. The ever-late, ever-porn-reading Wolf even pocketed his beloved Icha Icha before a very angry Godaime could tear it to pieces like what happened to his last book when she was in this state. It had been the signed copy too.

"Anyway…" Tsunade cleared her throat., "I have a mission request for the seven of you. You're going to protect a boarding school for magic- yes, magic!- in Europe and you'll be gone for a year. You're to especially watch out for one Potter Harry. He's a student there. Your client is the school's headmaster. A man called Dumbledore Albus. He sent a letter with a few mission details for you to read and a package with your transportation device. You have five hours to pack your belongings and say goodbye to your loved ones. And Hatake, I won't tolerate lateness. If you're late, you'll WALK to England, you hear me?!"

"Don't worry… Magic, huh?… Well, haven't heard of wizards in a while…" Kakashi mumbled, but no one heard him. Instead Tsunade asked, if there were any questions. The six shinobi exchanged looks for a moment, before one raised a hand.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Excuse me, shishou, but did you say seven?"

**End of chapter 1!**

**A/N: Well, this is the beginning. I hope you like it. In any case please leave a review, but no flaming please. **

**the book does really exist- I don't own it- and is the only real book about the Ninja Arts/ in this story it's supposed to be a treatise on Shinobi and their jutsu as well as Chakra **


	2. Goodbyes and Hellos

Hogwarts' ANBU 

**A/N: Hey there, I'm back- and I brought virtual cookies for every reviewer. **

**This chapter's title is "Goodbyes and Hellos", which is basically what will happen in it's plot. One part of it tells about how the Naruto characters say goodbye to their home and precious people. The other (and smaller) part is about our heroes entering the HP World and meeting up with a few, to us well-known wizards.**

**A/N ² The book is the Bansen Shukai. I had a little star attached to the word in the first chapter, but didn't show it in the story… Neither did it show the lines I draw between the different sections of the chapter. Strange! I apologize for this inconvinience and hope it's better in this chapter!**

**Furthermore: I ran this chapter through a computer programm that is supposed to identify errors in grammar and spelling twice and I read it a few times. I have to admit, that I'm not a native speaker (I'm german) and it's not beta-ed. If anyone wants to take the "job", I'll be very grateful. I have to warn you though: I've already written the raw-versions to a few more chapters and it's quite a bit of material to go through. Thank you. **

**Chapter 2: Goodbyes and Hellos**

"Don't worry. Magic, huh?… Well, haven't heard of wizards in a while…" Kakashi mumbled, but no one heard him. Instead Tsunade asked, if there were any questions. The six shinobi exchanged looks for a moment, before one raised a hand.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Excuse me, shishou, but did you say seven?"

"Ah, yes. I did, didn't I?", the blonde Hokage asked with a mischievous smile. "You've surely noticed that there's only six of you here with me now, and still I started the briefing, right?" Everyone nodded. "Well, your seventh team member has been notified, but was unable to come as she had a final appointment with Ibiki-san. As you all know, Cat has just gotten back from a long-term mission last year and hasn't gone on any mission since then due to the psychological aftereffects of said assignment. She's been slowly getting over it with a little help from Ibiki and a bit psychological assistance. Therefore, and because her talents will come in handy on such a mission, I decided to put her back into active duty. And seeing as Team Wolf was the one, that escorted her back home, I figured it would be better for her to have her first mission with you guys. She trusts you. If she can't take it, I'll have her return to the village immediately, so don't worry. Just… keep an eye out for her."

"Hai!" they all chorused.

"Very well, you may go. Kakashi, you stay. I still have something to discuss with you."

Sighing the silver-haired shinobi reluctantly sat down in one of the chairs infront of Tsunade's desk, while the others took their leave. He had the sinking feeling, that this would take a while and that he really, really wouldn't like it. As expected Tsunade shifted uncomfortably as soon as everyone was out of her office. She seemed to be a bit nervous about this 'discussion' herself. She was his boss of course, but that didn't change the fact that Kakashi was hardly one to just accept orders of _that_ type! The Hokage opened her mouth, but not a sound came out. She pressed her lips into a thin line before she tried again and this time, her voice didn't betray her.

"Now Kakashi, I suppose you know what I want to talk about, so I won't beat around the bush… I should probably start off by asking you: What are your plans for the future?"

Kakashi sighed again.

Oh yes, this would definitely take a while.

**333333**

"So, what do you think about Cat joining us for the mission?" Sakura asked as soon as they had left the Hokage Tower. Everyone stayed silent at first, not knowing how to answer. None of them knew very much about the mission Cat had been assigned on before coming back. Just that it was a S-class one and that it took her all of ten years to accomplish it. Even though she was an ANBU Captain, and they all knew that not just anyone could achieve _that _position! It scared them a little what one mission had done to someone so strong, both physically and mentally.

"I'm not sure," Neji finally answered. "I mean, she's gotten better, yes. She's… calmer now. Only three months ago she would break down crying whenever she saw some of my younger cousins play around the compound."

"Not to mention that she would flinch away whenever a man or boy would come any closer than three meters!" Naruto added thoughtfully. Then he seemed to remember something. "Except for Kakashi-sensei, of course. She was okay with him."

"Well, what did you expect. He had been her ANBU Instructor, not to mention a close friend since childhood- I guess Yondaime got his wish then."

"What do you mean, Shikamaru?"

"Isn't it obvious, dobe?" Sasuke answered instead of the pine-apple-headed genius. "Yondaime just wanted to make Kakashi socialize, seeing as he is such an antisocial hermit, though he lives in a village full of people."

'Whoa, that was the most Sasuke had ever said at once!' Sakura thought in awe. He really was changing. Not only had he come back to Konoha out of his own free will after killing his older brother and murderer of his clan, Itachi, he had also worked hard to change himself to be a little friendlier and regain the villagers' trust. Of course, the members of the former Team Kakashi and Team Yamato had done their best to help him and cheer him up.

"Anyway, I have to head off. The compound is the other way. See you at Tsunade's office," Neji said waving, before he hopped off into another direction. Quickly jumping from tree to tree he reached the compound in only a few minutes. The guards at the gates, sensing someone nearing them, lowered into their fighting stance, their Byakugan activated. They relaxed, however, as soon as they recognized him as their leader's husband, who was approaching. With a quick nod and a quiet "Neji-sama" they let him pass. Without further ado, the Hyuuga genius walked over to the teahouse. He knew his cousin would be there at this time of the day, waiting for him to talk to her in private. Silently entering the dark confines of the room, he closed the door behind him and marched over to the table in the middle of the room, where a dark figure sat already waiting for him. As soon as he was seated, the figure, obviously his cousin, opened her mouth to form a simple question.

"How long?" Her soft voice barely reaching him, even over such a short distance.

"A year," He answered calmly, but on the inside he was in turmoil. How could he go to another country now of all times? And for a whole year too? Tsunade knew what was going on in the Hyuuga household: still she sent him away. Leaving Hinata without protection.

"Don't worry, Neji!" the clan head spoke again, this time a little louder. She reached out for him with her hand and he took it in his. They had a mutual agreement on not using the usual suffix' when they were alone. "Hanzou-san will make sure I'm kept safe. And Tsunade-sama has already assigned two shinobi to do the same."

"Hanzou is Hanabi's protector."

"But Hanabi is perfectly safe, just by being the Kazekage's girlfriend. I mean, who would dare to mess with Gaara-kun?" she asked giggling lightly. Due to her diplomatic duties for the Hyuuga family, she and her sister had become close friends with the Kazekage of Suna. Hanabi was even dating the stoic man, since this summer. Neji wasn't sure what to make of that. In his opinion Hanabi was too young to be looking for boys, but Hinata seemed to think of them as a very endearing couple- or 'cute' as she had put it.

"I still don't like going away at a time like this. The Main House members-"

"Former Main House members, Neji," The blue-haired woman corrected. "There is no Main and Branch House anymore in this family, and I have already signed the clan law that forbids my successors to ever install something like that again."

It was true.

The first thing Hinata had done upon becoming leader was ending the clan segregation for good. She had even found a way to remove the cursed seal, Neji being the first to experience this at their wedding. The Hyuuga Elders had never been so surprised… or furious!They had always underestimated shy, little Hinata, and never thought, she would amount to anything. They had thought, that they could rule the clan themselves- Hinata only a mindless doll at their disposal! Honestly, Neji had thought the same for a while. But the blue-haired girl had fooled them all, secretly researching the curse mark and- with a little help from Hatake Kakashi- even made up a counter jutsu! That day, Hinata stunned the whole family, except for Hanabi, who had been the right hand in all her sister's doing. She had also forbidden the use of the jutsu that put the cursed seal on someone. Those who rebelled against this, she had put to silence by threatening to curse _them_ for their insubordination. Neji had never seen her so determined…, or scary. She really had changed. There was no trace anymore of the shy little princess he had once hated- except for the constant blushing when anything concerning romance or intimacy was even mentioned…

'Some things just never change…,' he thought smirking a little. Then he resumed where she had cut him off. "Anyway, they're still very dangerous, Hinata. They have been trying to murder you over a dozen times by now- and it has just been a year since you became clan head! They are not gonna give up, and we still have no proofs for their crimes, so we can't put them under arrest. I don't feel okay, just leaving you here like a dove among the hawks." That being an allusion to her ANBU code name: Dove. "Even with Hanzou around. I would feel better, if…"

"If I left the compound, right?"

"Yes."

"I guessed so. Therefore, I have already asked Temari-san, if I could stay with her at the Nara-compound. It's at the other end of the village, and therefore, the furthest away that I can go for such a long period of time. She said yes. Would that be alright with my dear, overprotective husband?" Hinata teased, a sly smile on her features.

Neji smiled too. "Yes, that would be great," he said rounding the table to give her a strong hug. "Thank you for understanding."

"You're welcome!" she said as she snuggled deeper into his warm embrace.

**3333333**

"That means we'll have to rearrange our wedding." She concluded from what her fiancé just told her.

"I'm sorry!" he said, though he didn't mean it. He wasn't sorry they had to postpone their wedding. It was just a formality after all- and a troublesome one too! But he said it for his sake and her's, because she wasn't happy about this development, and because he knew, she wanted him to say that. As expected, she smiled sadly at him, her green eyes worried, biting down on her lower lip.

She had been so happy, when the lazy genius had finally proposed to her. After almost two and a half years of dating. She was relieved, because she had thought, that he was afraid to take the next step in their relationship. Sure, she couldn't blame him, seeing as her two younger brothers had constantly pestered him- not to mention threatened him- about how he was treating their sister. Since Gaara wasn't a blood-lusting psychopath anymore, he had become very protective of his newfound family. No wonder Shikamaru had been nervous about asking Temari's hand in marriage!

"Ah, well. I guessed it already when Hinata came to me asking permission to stay here until Neji returns from his mission with you guys. I hope you don't mind?" He shook his head, knowing that she wouldn't take 'yes' for an answer, although realizing it was best for Hinata. Not even looking at him for his answer, she continued. "Really, I can't believe to what length she goes just to soothe his nerves?! From what she tells me, I would even dare to say he's worse than my siblings!"

"Your family never tried to kill you, though," he reminded her.

"True enough," Temari added with an exasperated sigh. Whether it was, because of the Hyuuga's family problems or their own difficulties at starting a family in the first place, he didn't know.

"I'll miss you," he said, because it couldn't hurt to do so, because she needed to hear it, and because it was true. He would miss her. Love makes men into fools, after all. And he had definitely become one, because he missed her already, even though she was standing there, right in front of him. The blonde Suna-nin cracked him another sad smile. Smiling a little himself he erased the distance between them to give her a gentle kiss, that soon became much more passionate.

"How long do you have until you have to be at Tsunade-sama's office?" she asked breathlessly as they broke apart. Shikamaru turned to look at the watch hanging beside the door.

"Three hours, fourty-seven minutes and twenty-five seconds."

"That will be enough!" Temari decided and pulled him down on the couch…

**3333333**

Naruto and Sasuke lived together in the Uchiha compound, ever since the last member of Konoha's prestigious clan had come home two years ago. Sasuke had agreed to the 'dobe's' idea, because there was enough room to avoid him.

And because it was too quiet even for him with nobody around.

It got lonely.

But of course he would never tell that to anybody, much less Naruto. Sure he had opened up a little more and even smiled once in a while or made a joke, but he was still an Uchiha dammit!

The last Uchiha, but still…

He couldn't just go around admitting that he felt lonely, admitting weaknesses! It just wasn't him! So he kept his mouth, but silently appreciated that Naruto still hadn't gone away or looked for an apartment of his own. Sakura would have lived here too, if it wasn't for her parents's house being closer to the hospital. Not to mention that it had gained a lot on memory value since her parent's deaths. She still came to visit both her 'boys' quite often though, or invited them into her home and even cooked on those occasions, which was an added bonus.

Therefore neither of the two young men were surprised, when the door-bell rang and Naruto opened to a slender woman wearing a Lynx-mask and a beige-coloured flak-jacket. They nodded to one another and were on their way. None of them had anyone to say goodbye to- no one that was in town anyway. Sakura told them quietly that she had written a letter for Tsunade to give Sai, Yamato, Ino, and all the others when they came back from their respective missions, so as not to worry their closest friends too much. Sasuke and Naruto- or rather Raven and Fox as they were in full Anbu gear- nodded their thanks to this as they followed her all the way up to the Hokage Tower.

**3333333**

When he had finally gotten home after a heated discussion with the Hokage about the future of the Hatake clan Kakashi only had time for a quick shower and maybe an even quicker bite into an apple or something. Fortunately he. like most elite shinobi, always had a backpack ready for short-notice missions, even long-term ones. So instead of hastily rummaging through his closet and cupboard and throwing everything into a rucksack he calmly walked into his bathroom and hopped into the shower. The hot water relaxed his stiffened muscles. Quickly drowning his hair in his shampoo, he washed his silver mane, before grabbing a towel to dry up and putting on his clothes again. As soon as he stepped out of the bathroom he knew something was off. He looked around his living room, but found nothing unusual. The same old couch, same loveseat, same carpet, same…

"I'm here," a voice said- definitely not his. Kakashi turned around. Leaning against the door was a tall woman in the normal ANBU uniform, mask in one gloved hand. Her long brown hair had been bound together tightly at her neck, so that only a few bangs fell at sides of her face. Her rosy lips were curved into a gentle smile, while her pearl-white eyes were taking in his appearance, her head cocked to the side.

"Sayuri?" Kakashi asked baffled. Seeing her in his apartment reminded him of his 'discussion' with the Lady Hokage. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a girl visit an old friend without having to have a reason?"

Kakashi just raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, you got me. Today I'm here on Tsunade's orders. She told me to make sure, you wouldn't be late. Come on now or we're not gonna make it in time," the Hyuuga answered, her smile growing into a smirk as she put on her Cat-mask. Kakashi chuckled, but slid his Wolf-mask over his face anyway. It felt good seeing her smile again- even if it was at his expense! It felt right.

'And thinking that she wouldn't even do so much as talk when we escorted her back!'

"Let's go, then," he grunted, while being ushered out the door by his female partner.

**3333333**

"Hatake, you're actually on time!" the Hokage exclaimed with mock admiration. "I should always send Cat to retrieve you before important missions, since she seems to have the great Copy-nin whipped."

Snickers could be heard throughout the room.

"Very well. Seeing as we all are here now, I would like to remind you that you are to guard a school full of kids, that have no idea of the shinobi's world. I would like it, if it remained like that. Furthermore, you are to kill only if absolutely necessary- and no, annoying students don't count. Wolf and Cat are the Team leaders, because they are the most experienced and because I say so."

She gave everyone a look daring them to argue, but nothing came of course. Not even Naruto was dumb enough to anger her further.

"That should be it…" Tsunade explained. "No wait, one more thing. Hatake, you're not to spoil those brat's innocent minds with your stupid porn, understood?! You may read them in private, though. And don't forget what I told you," she added menacingly.

Kakashi gave a reluctant nod.

"Good. In that case, grab hold of the portkey-cup. It will take you to your destination."

Everyone touched a finger to the little object and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Just as Naruto mumbled "I feel like an idiot!" and Sakuse answered "You are one!" they all felt a strange force pulling at their navel. Then they were practically ripped from Tsunade's office and thrown into a world where there existed no earth, just sky. Though not for long. Soon enough, the pulling ended and left them landing in a dining room full of strangers staring at them as if they had two heads. Only due to their exceptional skills, they all managed to land on their feet, instead of their- masked- faces.

All the while, Tsunade quietly sipped her sake.

"Ah, it's gonna be so much quieter with them out of town. Shannaro!"

**33333333**

Harry Potter, his friends, Sirius, the Weasleys and Tonks had been setting the table and/or been waiting for the food Mrs. Weasley cooked, when Mad-Eye Moody came into the room with a surprising announcement.

"You'll have to lay more plates, special guests are coming inn any minute now."

"How come?" Fred asked.

"Dumbledore requested their presence during the school year just this morning. Why do you think we put a few beds in the unused rooms upstairs?! They will be coming by portkey at 6pm," the ex-auror answered.

"That's today, already…" Mrs. Weasley took a look at the clock. "That's in twelve seconds!" The woman exclaimed panicked. "Fred, Ron, hurry. Take some more plates and put them on the table."

"How many more will we need, mom?" Ron asked.

"Seven, boy." Moody said. "Ah, here they come."

There was a loud thumb beside the table as seven figures landed feets first on the floor. The Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Sirius and Tonks gave the newcomers a onceover and immediately decided, that they were creepy. Knee-high boots adorned their feet, black pants and loose, hooded jackets, either beige or white. You couldn't see their faces under the hoods, because they were wearing porcelain white masks with swirls of colour and two slits to see, that resembled animal heads.

"Welcome to Number Twelve Grimauld Place, gentlemen!" Moody greeted them in a gruff tone, but with a big, if a little creepy smile on his scarred face. The strangers shifted their attention to the ex-auror. One of them started to make hand signs, while the others watched carefully. When he was finished another responded in kind, which made the room awfully silent. Harry and the others didn't dare breathe. Instinctively they had pulled out their wands after they saw the new arrivals. What were those people anyway? Why were they wearing masks? How come, Moody seemed almost cheerful upon seeing them?

"Oh, I completely forgot… Here!" Mad-Eye suddenly said as he took something from his pocket. The strangers seemed alarmed by his hasty movements, but relaxed as Moody handed them a scroll in a green enclosure. One of the guests took it from him and read it through then nodded slightly as he lifted his hood to reveal a mob of grey hair. The others followed his lead, pulling down the zippers of their flak jackets and shrugging the cloth of their shoulders. Beneath it a bone-white armor over a black shirt with high collars came into view.

"Blimey!" Ron whispered.

"Well, how about you introduce yourselves, dears…" Mrs. Weasley suggested after a few minutes of silence. "Oh, wait. Do they even speak our language, Mad-Eye? Or do they need a translation spell?"

"I suppose they already got one before arriving, Molly," he answered, but giving the guests an uncertain glance anyway.

"We do speak your language…," a soft, feminine voice answered. She had a slight accent, but was very much understandable to everyone's relief. It was the visitor nearest to Harry, who had spoken up. She wasn't very tall, just about 1, 67 meters, but she definitely attracted attention with her shoulder-length pink hair.

Yes, PINK!

How could anyone have PINK HAIR?

"Six of us anyway!" she added with a side-long glance at the blonde boy standing to her left. "But that problem is already solved. He got a 'translation spell' as you call it put on him, before our departure. Plus, he's learning english, I'll make sure of that-" The blonde gulped- "So, don't worry. We understand you."

"Who are you?"

"I'm a Junior ANBU Lieutenant. My codename is Lynx. The blonde and the bluish-haired boy beside me are normal ANBU Soldiers; Fox and Raven. Behind me, you see Deer. He's a Senior ANBU Lieutenant.-" Here she received a "Troublesome…" from said person. "And the last three of our little group are Eagle and our two leaders Cat and Wolf. All three of them are ANBU Captains. The highest rank. You can see it by our masks. They all have different colours." She pointed at every one, while going through the introductions- none of them had done more than nod curtly ( not even Naruto? Wow, seems like there's a first time for everything) then turned to Mrs. Weasley. "Could you tell us your names, please."

"What?…Oh, yes. I'm Molly Weasley, these are my sons Fred, George, and Ron. My daughter Ginny. My husband, Arthur, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, _("Don't call me Nymphadora!")_ Alastor Moody, and of course Harry Potter." As soon as Mrs. Weasley was finished Harry felt the guests glances rest on him heavily as they all had turned their attention to him simultaneously.

"What business do you have with Dumbledore?" George put in, but before any of them could answer, Moody spoke up again:

"They are hired guards. They will protect the school throughout the year."

Kakashi scowled behind his mask. He didn't like it, when details of his mission were just given away freely, but concluded that the brats would find out sooner or later. Therefore he just shrugged and sat down at the table, his comrades soon following. It appeared to be the cue for everyone else too, because not a minute later everyone was seated and waiting for dinner to be served. The wizards stole quick glances at the guards every now and then, but they were ignored as the ANBU discussed things among themselves for a while.

Harry realized then that this would be an awkward dinner…

**End of chapter 2!**

**A/N: Poor wizarding world! Hogwarts will never be the same again!**

**Anyway. Seeing as I don't know much about ANBU ranks, I decided to come up with an own chain of command: **_Captain - Senior Lieutenant - Junior Lieutenant – Soldier - Recruit_**! If you know anything, please let me know. **

**As for their masks, I decided to make the ranks obvious by the colour of the swirls. From Captain to Recruit: **_Black – purple – red – green - no swirls at all_**. Sakura's mask however has **_crimson_** swirls, because she's a medic too.**


	3. The Hearing

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**A/N: Okay, to make sure no one ends up confused, here a few marginal notes:**

"…" speaking english

"…"_ speaking japanese_

'…' thinking (language isn't important, I guess. I'll think it over and then decide)

Warning: mild swearing

**Chapter 3: The Hearing**

Harry then realized that this would be an ahkward dinner...

And he had been right.

Boy, had he been right!

The ANBU spoke in hushed tones, though that was hardly necessary as none of the house's occupants would have been able to understand them anyway. What the wizards did understand, however, was that their guests weren't very polite people. They ignored them completely in favor of their discussion.

"_What do you think of this place?" _Sakura asked.

"_I think it looks creepy!" _answered Naruto immediately, before anyone else had the chance to even take a breath._ "This house is cursed, believe it!"_

"_Someone else?" _Sakura added in an exasperated sigh.

"_Tsunade-sama said, the house the portkey would take us to would be safe and that we should stay here until the school year begins…" _Kakashi explained._ "Furthermore in the mission scroll it was said, that the Potter-kid had a hearing on August, 12. We're to make sure nothing happens to him,while not alerting the local authoroties to our presence-"_

"_And just how are we supposed to do __**that**__, mmh?" _the pinkhaired woman wanted to know.

"_As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted-" _a disbelieving snort from the girl-_ " We still have to figure something out. I want everyone to think carefully about it, since it's one if our major problems until the students return to their school."_

"_Troublesome, but okay. How do the students get to the school, anyway?"_

"_Ah, yes. They go by train, starting fromLondon's train station Kings Cross. The mission scroll says, there's a magical platform hidden somewhere. We'll just have to follow these kids here- without being seen of course. It would only scare the 'muggles'- the non-wizards- if they were to notice us. We don't exactly look friendly-"_

"_We aren't friendly either!" _inserted Sasuke._ "We're ANBU."_

Kakashi shot him a glare from behind his mask. He didn't like being interrupted either. He just wanted to finish his briefing. Was that too much to ask for?_ "As I was saying before I was again rudely interrupted-"_

"_Oh, suck it up, sensei!" _Naruto grinned. Kakashi sighed.

"_Fox, shut up. It's late and I'd like to eat something soon. My guess is, you're hungry too?" _Neji reminded him and was confirmed by a loud growl from the blode's stomach._ "Thought so. Now, the sooner Wolf can finish, the sooner we can eat, understood?!…Please, go on taichou."_

"_I agree. Let him speak!" _Neji's aunt added gently, but firmly.

"_Thank you. Anyway, we're to follow the kids to the platform, unseen. Therefor we'll have to cast a genjutsu over the whole station ("Troublesome!"). Afterwards we'll board the train and make our rounds to assure that everything is alright.("More troublesomeness.") One of us, however, will always stay with the kid as it is our special mission to watch out for him. Lynx, that will be your job- I know you are perfectly capable of guarding the train, but you're also the most… sociable one out of all of us. You'll get along with them better than any of us anti-social morrons. Deer will keep you company, if he is okay with that?"_

"_You mean, no walking up and down the compartments for the whole ride?! Yeah, count me in- moving around in senseless circles is way too troublesome."_

"_Ah…Well,good for you… Five of us should be enough to guard the train. At the school's platform we'll re-group and go with the kids. Apparently there will be carriages to take us to the castle. Everything clear to everyone?" _Kakashi asked with a knowing glance in Naruto's direction, but of course the blonde couldn't see it due to the mask- not that he would have understood it, even if there would have been nothing to cover Wolf's face.

"_Yeah…can we eat now?" _(I don't think I have to write, who said THAT, do I ?)

Everyone sighed.

"_Not yet, Fox. There is one more thing, I'd like you to know- about our enemy."_

"_What would that be, sensei?" _Sakura asked curiously._ "I mean, what is there to know, but that he is an evil wizard that resurrected himself before summer and that he wants Harry dead to avenge his downfall fourteen years ago?!" _Kakashi chuckled. Seems like he wasn't the only one, who read the scroll very carefully.

"Thank you, Lynx, you just said it. He's resurrected. Our duty is to stop any attack he might put the school under. However, we're not to hunt him down or kill him. And before you ask Fox: That is, because he can't be killed. Not without destroying the many vessels filled with portions of his soul."

"_He divided his soul?" _Sayuri asked incredously.

"_Troublesome."_

"_Could you stop saying that word." _Sasuke hissed._ "It gives me a headache."_

"_Troublesome."_

"_I said-"_

"_Back to the topic at hand!" _Neji commanded._ "It's not part of our mission to find these… vessels, is it?"_

"_No. We're not even to talk about them again. I just wanted you to know, that we're here only to protect. So don't resort to killing unless the situation absolutely calls for it. In this culture killing is frowned upon, to say the least. Leaf doesn't need any international diplomatic scandals. And we don't need one of our ANBU operatives going to jail. So no unnecessary killing. Have I made myself clear enough?!" _This time Kakashi's look lingered on Sasuke and Neji, both people more likely to resort to assasinate than capture someone.

"_Yes, taichou." _Everyone chorused.

"_Yes, sensei."_

"_Lynx!" _Kakashi gave a sigh._ "You're an accomplished ANBU member… Why do you insist on calling me that?"_

"_To me, you'll always be 'sensei'. Besides. I feel, I could still learn a lot from you." _The pink-haired woman said cheerfuly, which earned her another sigh at her antics. She just smiled in response. She knew he knew, because he just shook his head at her. Just when he was about to say something, he was interrupted again. But this time by a question coming from the one, they were hired to protect…

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Though knowing that they wouldn't understand a word, Harry and his friends still listened in on the guards conversations. At some point Harry would hear his name being said and was sure they were talking about the reason they had been summoned here in the first place: The constant attacks on the school by Voldemort, because of him. Almost automatically Harry's and Ron's gazes switched to Hermione as if they expected her to be able to understand that gibberish language.

Of course the bushy-haired girl just huffed indignantly and shook her head.

Sighing the two boys went back to their soup. Mrs. Weasley had cooked them a pot of goulash and filled Harry's plate espescially full. She still thought she needed to feed him extra-portions, because he was so thin. Mr. Weasley was telling a few incredible stories about his work, while Mrs. Weasley tried to chat with Tonks a little. The only problem was, both women were slightly uncomfortable with the strange guests at the table. Harry couldn't even blame them. Those bone-white armors over black shirts, long gloves and trousers- they looked a lot like sceletons.

Shuddering at that thought Harry turned around only to see Fred and George whispering to each other, while stealing glances at the guards. The twins seemed to have something in mind and Harry wasn't sure, if he should be all for it. They knew nothing about these people and their methods, but the fact that they wore an armor was more than enough to concern the dark-haired boy. What if those guys were foreign Death Eaters? The thought had come to his mind before, but he'd dismissed it. If Dumbledore trusted them, then they couldn't be Death Eaters.

However, that didn't mean, that they were friendly people.

Contemplating, if he should warn Fred and George of possible danger, he soon dismissed that thought too. The Weasley twins never listened to anybody, they wouldn't start now. So why bother?! Instead he opted for a more subtle way to possibly warn them, depending on the results he got. He decided to be bold and just directly ask for the information he wanted to get on them. If he was lucky, they would answer his questions for a while, before figuring out what he was doing and that meant, he would at least get _something_ out of this. Plus, if anything they said revealed them as dangerous, maybe Fred and George would think twice before messing with them and causing trouble.

Summoning all of his courage as a Griffindor he spoke up:

"So, what are you guys?.. I mean, what is this ANBU-thingy?"

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_So, what are you guys?… I mean, what is this ANBU-thingy?_

To say the guards were shocked at the blunt question would've been the unterstatement of the year. Their bodies tensed as they all slowly turned their heads towards him. Masked faces watched the raven-haired boy silently as they tried to figure out, what the hell they were supposed to answer. Not the truth, right? Telling your hosts that you were a shinobi trained to kill or torture mercilessly wasn't a good idea in this situation. In their world everybody knew about ANBU and no one took offence at that fact, because everyone knew they were needed to keep their villages and people safe. But in the wizarding world the closest thing to an ANBU agent would be an auror and even then there were big, no HUGE differences between them- starting with the philosophy!

Cat finally cleared her throat.

"We're similar to your aurors…" she wanted to say, but it was Moody, who spoke first.

"ANBU is an abbreviation for **An**satsu Senjutsu Tokushu **Bu**tai, which translated into our language means more or less 'Special Tactics and Assasination Squad'."

Shocked silence ensued to this answer. Everyone at the table looked at the ex-auror in horror. They had been expecting something bad, judging by the guard's appereance, this was a little much though. Harry couldn't believe his ears: Special Tactics and Assasination Squad? What the hell?!?! Why would Dumbledore hire assasins to protect the school grounds? Ah, to hell with the school, what about the students?! They were gonna be totally terrified of this… this… people!

Meanwhile the ANBU members were heavily contemplating to jump that insufferable man and- screw the mission- cut his fucking throat!!! How could he disclose such delicate information?! Was he crazy? Eyes twitching in irritation beneath their masks, they tried to regain their composure- Shikamaru mumbling another "Troublesome!", which made Sasuke want to throttle him. But hey, he was an Uchiha, he wasn't going to succumb to primal urges, espescially not infront of his former sensei and his pink-haired teammate. The latter coming to mind, because she would be disappointed in him and for some reason he really couldn't stand to see- or even only imagine- her disappointed face…

And of course, because she would punch him through the wall!

A short second after Sasuke finished his thoughts, Moody had a kunai at his throat. Without anyone seeing him move, Kakashi had made his way over to the ex-auror quickly- and he hadn't used a transportation jutsu that much was clear to the gurads. They would have felt it, if he had used any of his chakra reserves.

"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed.

'_He is right.'_ The other ANBU had to agree. _'That was exceptionally fast even for Scarecrow.'_

Irritated, but in a calm demeanor, Kakashi finally answered:

"You seem to know a lot about us. Maybe we should kill you, so as not to risk any more information to leak out."

"No need for that- but do you really not remember me?" Moody answered, grinning.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi said, startled, but not enough to loosen his grip on the man. The other ANBU were confused as well. Did their Captain know this strange man with the nastily scarred face? And if he did, why didn't he tell them?

"Do you really not remember me? We worked together more than twenty years ago, when one of your convicts fled to europe and you came here to get him back!" the ex-auror reminded him, but Kakashi was still puzzled. Twenty years ago he had been twelve. Sure, at that time he had already been one of the most feared shinobi and already in the Bingo Book, but…He didn't remember ever coming to europe in his youth!

"I'm sorry!" he said therefor, removing the kunai from Moody's throat again. "But I think you're confusing me with someone else."

"I don't think so. You're the White Fang, aren't you?" Moddy asked and almost everyone at the table asked themselves, who the 'White Fang' was. Kakashi froze. He hadn't heard that name since the mission to save the Kazekage three years ago. Hell, he hadn't expected to hear that name in another ten years! A look around confirmed his suspiscion: Everyone was waiting for his answer- even Sakura, Naruto and Sayuri, who knew about his Dad. Calming his heartbeat he slowly shook his head:

"The White Fang is dead. He died decades ago." Hopefully that would put Moody-san into silence.

No such luck.

"Then you must be his boy!" the man exclaimed, realization dawning on him. "Yes, I remember him talking about a son. That must be you. I reckognize the silvery hair. That means, you must be around thiry now."

"I'm sorry." Kakashi shook his head again. He really was in no mood to deal with memories of his father. So, he changed the subject. "Where are we staying?" At this Mrs. Wasley squealed and jumped up. The guards seemed taken aback for a moment, but soon relaxed as they watched the woman's cheeks colour.

"Uh… We have two guestrooms upstairs, but there are only two beds in each. The rooms weren't big enough to… but we could enlarge them magically and-"

"That won't be necessary!" Wolf spoke up. "We'll just share."

"Oh, but… two beds for five people… won't that be uncomfortable?"

"Five people?" Cat asked. "What do you mean? Four of us will sleep in one room and three of us in the other?" The pearl-eyed woman had a good idea, what was bothering Mrs. Weasley, but kept quiet as she found it highly entertaining. She watched the woman's cheeks flare again and her hands began fidgeting.

"But… you're only two women."

"So? Lynx can take the spare bed and two of us can share." Cat replied, before Wolf could announce that the two girls could sleep in one bed and he- their poor old taichou- in the other. "I don't see the problem."

Really, these wizards had to many inhibitions…

"I can't." Eagle immeadiately said. "I'm married."

"I'm out too. I'm engaged and it's too troublesome to share a bed with a woman."

"Espescially if your soon-to-be wife found out!" Fox teased. "She would tear you apart… Hey, teme!"

"Hn."

"How about we leave our _beloved_ leaders to argue about who's to get which side of the bed and go get some sleep?!" the blonde said, because he wanted to prove to both his sensei and Neji's aunt that the "just friends" excuse didn't work with him. Kakashi rolled his eyes. Why wouldn't anybody just believe them? Oh, yeah! Because they were pretty much glued to the hips! But what was wrong with enjoying your best friends company? Why did everybody insist that they were "friends with benefits" if not downright in love?! Tsunade had even ordered a few of their friends and some ANBU to follow them 24/7 for two month. Apparently, she had made a bet with Jiraya…

Wether she had won or lost, Kakashi and Sayuri would never find out…

"Whatever." Came Ravens reply as they stood up. Soon the other shinobi followed. Their plates were perfectly clean, when they put them in the sink, which left every wizard to wonder:

When had they eaten the food?

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Time passed quickly at Grimauld Place number 12, filled with plastering that made their muscels ache. At least the guards were helping- well, some of them. The pink-haired woman and the blonde were their greatest helpers- even though Fox destroyed some things a few times. Somehow Lynx and that other woman- Cat, Harry remembered- even made their pain go away after placing their hands on the pain's source and letting it glow in a soft green colour. That had gone a great length in getting the residing wizards more comfortable around the hired shinobi. The first time Cat helped Fred and George like that, her pink-haired companion asked something inquisitively, though none of them understood as she switched into her native language:

"_You know medical ninjutsu?"_

"_Just the basics and a few advanced jutsu too. I had to keep myself entertained in those ten years." Sayuri answered in a sad voice. "Besides after my mission was complete three years prior to my return, I needed those jutsu many times after battles with my persecutors to heal myself, because I couldn't just go to a hospital."_

"_They would've found you."_

"_Exactly. I couldn't come back home either, because that would have put Konoha in danger. It's involvement in my mission couldn't be known. That's why I had been declared a missing-nin, when the mission first started."_

"… _Would you like to learn a little more. I could teach you a few jutsu Tsunade taught me. It would be nice to have another medic on the team- would take a great deal of work off of my shoulders."_

"_Sure."_

"_Wow! My very own apprentice. That's so COOL!!!"_

This rather loud exclamation in the hallway of the house, was followed by the two dark purple curtains flying to the side and the insane screaming of the woman on the portrait behind them. It sounded like there was some Banshee in the house, cursing at full volume, yelling at no one in particular such insulting things as "Mudbloods" or "Disgrace of my flesh" and "Scum". Within the next minute every wizard and guard had assembled infront of the portrait. Sirius and Mrs.Weasley tried to close the curtains again, while everyone else was holding their hands over their ears. When the wizards seemed not to be succeeding, Wolf started tapping his foot on the ground in annoyance (which caused Fox, Raven, Eagle and the Hogwarts' students to take a step away from him in fright) and Deer had muttered his fifth "Troublesome" of the minute, Lynx finally had enough.

It had been her fault, this…thing had awoken in the first place. So she was going to put an end to this. Stepping out of the group of spectators, she threatened the woman to destroy the portrait, if she didn't "shut the fuck up!" and used some sort of weird magic to underline how serious she was about it. Quickly going through the seals, she released her very own original jutsu:

"_Doton: Sakura no ha no jutsu."_

A strong wind came up, carrying hundreds of cherry blossoms. It looked beautiful, but was rather life-threatening as everyone had to admit a moment later. Wherever the pale pink blossoms came in contact with something solid, they just cut through it… on second thought, scratch that! They actually ripped it into pieces. Gone were the curtains and gone was the frame…

…and gone was the screaming. Sirius mother fell awefully quiet after seeing, what the pink-haired guard had done to her portrait. It didn't even hang on the wall anymore. The sakura blossoms had done, what no spell had been able to do up until then: It had separated the cursed image from the wall above the staircase…

After this little scene the days till the 12th of August flew by. As the day approached all the wizards grew more and more nervous. They all liked Harry and didn't want him to get punished. Not to mention, without his wand he would be defenseless against Voldemort's next attack! As much as the wizards grew volatile, the ANBU stayed calm. They had their plan already all worked out. Though they couldn't be there in person, they would sent and undercover agent with Harry, that would alert them of any danger. So that if need be they would just have to teleport into the hearing.

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So when Dumbledore entered the giant dungeon, announcing himself as witness to his defence, the Boy-Who-Lived was very surprised to find a small brown pug walking right beside the tall man's feet. As Dumbledore conjured a seat for himself, the little dog decided to jump straight onto Harry's lap, looking him straight in the eye as if searching for something. Harry blinked. The dog, obviously satisfied with whatever he had seen, laid down.

Fudge seemed very flustered. Apparently he hadn't expected to see Dumbledore. He had purposefully sent the message of the hearing's shifting late, but it seemed the headmaster had anticipated that and arrived just in time. Then however Fudge noticed the dog on Harry's lap and bristled.

"What is the meaning of this? Animals are not allowed here. The ministry is not a pet shop."

"Ah, I apologize, secretary." Dumbledore said amused. "But you see, since I found the poor thing abandoned on the streets a few weeks ago and took care of him, Pakkun has been following me everywhere. He wouldn't leave my side."

The dog gave an indignant snort.

"P-Pakkun."

"The pug's name."

"Ah… uh, well, let's begin, shall we? Mh, yes. Well then. The charge. Yes." Fudge regained slowly his composure, while rummaging through his documents. He pulled out a parchment and read:

**( I'm cutting this short, because I'm german and got the book only in german, so I have no idea what it says in the original and I'm pretty sure, I'd mess up, if I tried to translate all of it. I'm sorry.). **

"The charge is the following: That he knowingly and intentionally broke the law, that restraints underage wizardy.

You're Harry James Potter?"

"Yes."

"You got an official warning three years ago from the ministry of magic?

"Yes, but-"

"And yet you still used your wand on August second to conjure a Patronus?"

"Yes." Harry said. "But-"

"Knowing that you weren't allowed to use any magic outside of the school until the age of seventeen?"

"Yes, but-"

"Knowing that you were in a neighbourhood full of muggles?"

"Yes, but-"

"Knowing that you were near a muggle at that point of time?"

"_Yes_." Harry answered irritated. "But I used it only because-"

"You conjured a real Patronus?" a which aked. Madame Bones

"Yes, because-"

"One that had a real form, not just silvery mist?" the same woman asked.

"Yes. It was a stag. It's always a stag."

"Always?" started Madam Bones. "Does that mean you have already conjured a Patronus before?"

"_Yes_, I've been able to do that since my third year."

"Impressive." She said. A few other wizards and witches nodded in agrrement and there was much whispering after this information. The brown dog in Harry's lap shifted a little, which made the boy look at him. The pug was looking up at him again and his eyes seemed to compliment him just like Madam Bones just did. Harry was torn between being proud and being scared.

A dog shouldn't be able to look like that!

Then Fudge spoke up again:

"This is not about Mr. Potter's abilities. It's about his illegal usage of magic. Espescially since he cast his spell right infront of a muggle." The whispering wizards started to mumble in agreement, but it was Percey's nod that made Harry speak, before anyone could interrupt him again:

"I did it, because of the dementors."

"Dementors?" Madam Bones inquiered. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean there were two dementors in the street, that attacked me and my cousin." Of course Fudge tried to make everone believe, Harry was lying, but fortunately Dumbledore had brought a witness with him: Mrs. Figg. At first happy to see her, Harry soon got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, listening to Mrs. Figg describing how the dementors _ran_ towards him and Dudley ("Aha! Dementors don't run, they float." Fudge exclaimed. "Yes, yes, that's what I mean!") and how she explained that Dementors were very big and wore capes…

Harry's sinking feeling grew.

The pug sniggered.

Harry blinked.

Had the **pug** just _sniggered_?

The pug sniggered again.

Yes, the **pug** _sniggered_.

'What the hell?!'

While Harry had been spaced out on the hearing, because of the strange creature on his lap- mabey it was an animagus?- a woman with great resemblence to a toad had asked Dumbledore, if he was accusing the ministry of ordering the dementors to attack Harry. She laughed at her own wirds and it sounded so shrill that Harry almost flinched visibly. The pug didn't have any inhibitions in regard as he did not only that, but also bore his claws lightly into the raven-haired boy's legs and closed his eyes in annoyance, while his paws covered his ears. This dog had to be an animagus, Harry concluded. What dog would put his paws over his ears? Maybe it was one of the guards? But the ministry wizards would have surely noticed the magical transformation. So that couldn't be, could it?

Meanwhile the toad-woman- Madam Umbridge- and Dumbledore had a discussion about whom the dementors were really serving and if what Harry did really had been illegal, seeing as he had just tried to defend himself and his cousin- which by wizard's law was definitely allowed. The pug laughed out loud at one part, where Fudge was too flustered with Dumbledores rhetorical abilities cornering him to form a coherent sentence. Quickly the dog hid his laughing behind a cough, but not without getting strange glances from some people sitting nearby. Finally Fudge asked everyone to vote. Turns out Harry is acquited of all charges. The boy turns to Dumbledore to say 'thank you', but the headmaster leaves without even sparing him a glance. As Harry walks out to greet Mr. Weasley, he notices the pug following him now.

Mr. Weasley didn't seem surprised…

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As soon as he put a foot inside the door to Grimauld Place number 12, he was assaulted from his friends, who wanted to know how it went. Harry was about to answer them, when he saw the pug walking down the corridor and decided to follow. The small brown-furred () dog turned the corner into the dining hall. Inside the room were three of the guards- Wolf, Lynx and Deer. The pug came to a halt infront of Wolf, who was reading a little orange book, while also playing a game of chess with his pine-apple-headed teammate.

"Good job, Pakkun!" Wolf said, slightly rubbing the animal behind it's ear. "Nothing unusual?"

"No, but you should've been there. These wizards are just plain crazy!" the pug answered in an exasperated tone. "You know, you could've just sharingan-ed them into letting him go or simply not notice you, instead of disturbing me, while I was getting my well-deserved rest. Not to mention, that my mate is having puppies. She's gonna kill me for staying away so long. You owe me one!"

At this point Harry's mouth was hanging wide open. Who could blame him? His friends, who had arrived in the door shortly after him had the same problem. After all, dogs didn't speak! Not even in the wizarding world! Not even animagi could speak, when they had adopted their animal form. That was an unwritten rule of this world! It was an universal law!

Apparently, no one told Pakkun that!

"Sure. How about a bath, first chance?"

Pakkun just huffed and turned to Lynx, who had been sitting beside her sensei looking through some old parchments. As soon as the young woman noticed the pug, that had jumped into her lap, she leaned back to caress his soft fur. The dog almost purred like a cat under her gloved hands. Eventually she took off one of her gloves to allow more accsess. Pakkun only melted more into her touch as she giggled slightly.

"Traitor." Wolf murmured.

"Don't be mean, sensei. Besides, I'm his mistress too. You allowed me to sign the contract or don't you remember, old man?" she teased playfully.

She was answered with the turn of a page.

'Sign? Contract?…' Harry thought frantically. 'What the hell are those guards?'

**End of chapter three!**

**A/N: Well, what do you think? Please, leave a review!**

**Next chapter: The train ride to Hogwarts and the first evening- and with that finally the first real action! Sorry about that, by the way, but I didn't want to stray from the book too much- at least not in the first few chapters.**


	4. Hogwarts

Hogwarts' ANBU 

A/N: In this chapter Hogwarts meets Umbridge, Umbridge meets the guards and the guards start to agree with Pakkun: Wizards are completely crazy!

**Hope you enjoy it.**

Chapter 4: Hogwarts 

The last few weeks at Grimauld Place number 12 passed without anymore interferences, if you ignored the little demonic creature in the drawer of a desk and the fuss about the youngest male Weasley becoming prefect. The letters with the list of utensils, the students would need this year, finally arrived, so that Mrs. Weasley could go and get them along with a broom for her wonderful prefect/ son. Harry seemed a little jealous and disappointed, though he tried to mask it with cheering for his friend. Still, their realtionship appeared to become a little strained afterwards, espescially at the feast that was hold in honor of the new prefects. To the ANBU it didn't matter much and they left as soon as they were finished with their meals to get some quiet time. Even Naruto, who normally adored every kind of loud and noisy festivities, when he was younger- but nowadays his Kyuubi senses were to acurate.

The ANBU guards had assembled in one of their rooms to discuss the events of the next morning over a few games of chess or reading adult books. They had been through with buisness talk and in the middle of an animated chat about the latest edition of the Bingo Book, when Mrs. Weasley's scream had reached their ears. Exchanging quick glances they had ran down the hallway and stormed the drawing room. The scenery that had been displayed infront of them was rather macabre. Mrs. Weasley had been on the floor, crying at an image of her dead husband.

"No! No… riddikulus! Riddikulus! RIDDIKULUS!" The woman groaned and screamed.

Peng! The twins appeared, dead.

Peng! Percy appeared, dead.

Peng! Harry, dead too.

"Mrs. Weasley, you should leave the room. Someone else will handle this." Harry pleaded, just when Lupin came running into the room, Sirius and Moody right behind him. The guards had been so mesmerized by the creatures ability to show someone their fears, they had completely forgotten to do something about it. When they realized their mistake, Wolf barked a few orders. They surrounded the enemy, while Lynx was taking care of Mrs. Weasley. Looking around confusedly, the creature- now a dark fog- seemed to be trying to decide, which one of them to take on first. Raven and Wolf launched the first attack: A giant fireball each. Eagle and Cat analyzed the procedure and had to shake their heads, when both ANBUs looked at them, uncertain. Deer had become pensive and quiet and his comrades doubted, he was even still in the same room with them anymore.

That was screaming for a new tactic!

Eagle made a few hand signs to make his teammates understand, that he would try with his Juuken. At the same time, Fox made some shadow clones, that attacked the monster physically once the fire subsided. They hit nothing but thin air!A moment later the magical being floated towards the blonde Fox and the others panicked: The last thing they needed to add to their rather disastrous relationship with the residing wizards, was an image of the nine-tails in their salon.

Fortunately Cat quickly jumped between the two and the fog, that had been changing it's colour into something definetely red, changed again. It took on a silver hue, much like Wolf's hair and each ANBU operative wondered, if she was secretly frightened by Kakashi, but it became quickly apparent that it wasn't human hair, they were seeing, but fur. A bright silver fur. And a graceful body. However, before anyone could so much as guess, what the creature was henging into, Cat had thrust her palm into it's middle-section, bluish energy glowing furiously around it. The creature gave a high-pitched cry and dissolved into nothingness.

"Is it dead?" Fox asked. Everyone shrugged helplessly. Even Wolf posture was uncertain. He kept his muscels strained, ready to jump, in case it wasn't over yet, but nothing happened, before Deer spoke up again.

"I think Cat's energy disrupted the magic circulation, much like it would do with our chakra system. My guess is, the creature died of a heart attack of sorts." Still baffled, everyone was silent for a moment- enough for them to notice that Mrs. Weasley was still kneeling crying on the floor.

Fortunately Lupin quickly took care of the poor woman, crying onto his shoulder, reassuring her that everything would be fine and that she didn't need to worry about her kids. Or about what could happen, if she and Arthur were to die. Ron and Ginny would be taken care of, Sirius told her in a playful manner to make her smile a little- which she did. She seemed to be feeling better, but was still trembling lightly and needed more comforting.

At this point, Kakashi gave everyone a sign to leave them alone. None of them was very good at comforting someone, espescially when they didn't quite understand the problem: Everyone died at some point in time! There was no way to defy death forever and the loss of dear ones was a normal thing to them, it happened to everyone. Therefor they couldn't bond with Mrs. Weasley- especially since no one was dead! Feeling slightly guilty for not intervening more quickly though, they walked back to their respective rooms in silence. None of them in the mood to continue their previous discussion after being so… useless, helpless almost- even if they did win the creature over.

As ANBU they hated that feeling!

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The guards couldn't believe their eyes. How people could be so chaotic was beyond them. In their ranks discipline and order were demanded from everyone. The wizards however seemed to like their chaos, at least most of them. Fred and George had cast a spell on their suitcases, so they would fly downstairs. They did, but on their way hit the youngest member of the Weasley family, Ginny. The poor girl would have fallen down two staircases into the hall, if it wouldn't have been for Eagle, who grabbed her just in time and made a jump only to land attached to the wall.

"Troublesome!" muttered Deer.

"Are you unharmed?" Eagle asked in his stoic voice. The read-haired girl blinked a few times, then looked up wide-eyed at her savior, who was holding her up bridal style. She blushed and nodded and tried to get out of his grasp, but he just shook his head and motioned for her to take a look down. Ginny yelped when she realized their position on the wall. In a swift motion the ANBU jumped down onto the ground again, before carefully setting her down.

"Thank you." She mumbled blushing harder.

All the while Mrs. Weasley and some strange woman on a portrait had been yelling at no one in particular. Groaning another "Troublesome" Deer joined his long-haired comrade in the hall, waiting for everyone else. Soon enough the others arrived- Wolf being dragged by the ear by a fuming Lynx, who also held the Captains favorite book in her left hand. Her old sensei tried to get a hold on it, whenever the pain became halfway-bearable, but Lynx held it defiantely out of his reach. Finally releasing the silver-haired man she put her ANBU coat on and pulled the zipper up, before sliding the hood on and halfway over her face and held her head down. The others did exactly the same. They would put a genjutsu on the train station, but even then being extra-careful couldn't hurt.

"Harry, you will be going with Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley said raising her voice above the yells of "MUDBLOODS! SCUM!" and what else (They still hadn't figured out, where to take the portrait to- they couldn't just place it outside onto a street full of muggles after all!). "Leave your suitcase and owl here, Alastor is gonna take care of them- oh for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no." She admonished as a big black dog appeared by Harry's side- which in turn made him wonder where the hell Pakkun had gone to!

"Fine!" Mrs. Weasley eventually grumbled. "But if anything happens, you'll be responsible." The chubby woman ushered everyone out the door. As soon as it closed the yells of the cursed portrait subsided, leaving Fox and Wolf extremely grateful, because it had been tentimes worse for them with their sharp hearing.

"Where's Tonks?" Harry asked.

"Right there!" Mrs. Weasley indicated a corner, where they were greeted by an old woman wearing a purple hat. She winked at Harry, before turning to Mrs. Weasley: "We should hurry up a little, Molly, shouldn't we?"

"I know, I know. But Mad-Eye wanted to wait for Sturgis… if only Arthur could've lend some cars from the ministry again… oh, but Fudge wouldn't even let him borrow an empty ink barrel… how do muggles endure to travel without magic…"

In the end they needed twenty minutes to walk to King's Cross. Nothing happaned of course, except for Sirius chasing after a few cats to amuse Harry. As soon as they were at the train station, one of the guards made some hand signs and mumbled something under his breath, then they walked calmly into the building. Harry watched in horror as Raven bumped into an old woman, but nothing happened. Actually, something did happen: Raven grunted in annoyance, before jumping onto the wall and the woman looked around to see what had hit her and then just shrugged as she saw nothing. Taking a look around Harry noticed that no one seemed to see the strange people walking on the ceiling or the walls.

'Wow.' He thought. How did the guards manage to do either of that? To cast a spell over an entire building was extremly difficult. And Harry didn't even see them pull out their wands! If they had wands, that is. Quickly he walked through the gate to platform 9 3/4 , where the Hogwarts Express was already waiting, blowing soot over the crowd. Breathing in it's familiar scent he felt his spirits rise.

He was going back!

"Hopefully, the others manage to get here in time…" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she watched the entrance to the platform carefully, where new arrivals came into sight every second.

"Nice dog, Harry!" Lee, a fifth-year said.

"Thanks, Lee." The Boy-Who-Lived answered as Sirius wagged his tail.

"Ah, good. There's Alastor with the luggage." Mrs. Weasley looked relived, when she saw the ex-auror with his low-sitting hat come closer. He told her, he didn't think they were being followed. Just after that Mr. Weasley came through the gate with Ron and Hermione, three of the guards trailing behind them. Which ones, Harry couldn't say, because they walked with a light slump so nobody could look beneath their hoods. At long last Fred, George, Ginny, Lupin and the rest of the ANBU operatives joined them, assuring Moody that nothing had transpired. The usual warnings about "CONSTANT VIGILANCE" as the Moody imposter the previous year had put it, were said, before they set off. The guards nodded to each other, Wolf barked a few orders and then they were gone- except for Lynx and Deer. Soon even Fred and George left to find Lee, while Ron and Hermione had to go to the prefect compartment. Ginny and Harry decided to search for a compartment and secure their friends two seats. In the last carriage they found Nevil Longbottom, a fifth-year like Harry. The plump boy told them in a trembling voice that he couldn't find a compartment and said he didn't want to disturb anyone, when Ginny opened the door to one, where only a single seat was taken.

"Hi, Luna!" Ginny greeted. The blonde girl at the window looked up lowering the magazine she held upside down to greet them. She nodded, when Ginny asked, if they could stay here, but her eyes widened in shock as they entered. Harry got annoyed. He was used to people staring at him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. However, at Ginny's sharp intake of breath and Neville's continued trembling he soon realized, Luna wasn't staring at him. Infact, when he turned around and saw two of the guards standing behind him, waiting patiently for him to enter the compartment fully, he immediately understood their shock and Neville's fear. From were they sat, they could probably make out the animal-shaped masks under the coats, which were making him nervous now too.

'What are they doing here?' Harry asked himself silently as he stepped inside and sat down. He watched as the two ANBU did the same, without so much as a "Hello" and certainly not bothering to introduce themselves. As they sat down, they removed their hoods, but left the coats on. It therby became apparent, that sitting to his right was Deer, while the pink-haired Lynx had taken the seat opposite to him. Silence surronded the Hogwarts students while they watched in fright and awe as the two masked warriors made themselves comfortable. Deer emitted a little grunt, when he stretched and his bones made a cracking sound.

"Had a nice summer, Luna?" Ginny asked, clearing her throat.

"Yes." The girl said dreamily. Apparently she had already gotten comfortable with the guards around. "Yes, it was very nice. You _are _Harry Potter." She added after a moment.

"I know." Harry said.

Neville snickered.

Luna turned to look at him. "And I have no idea of who you are."

"I'm nobody." Neville answred hastily.

"No, you aren't!" Ginny reminded him sharply. "Neville Longbottom – Luna Lovegood. Luna is in the same year as I am, but in Ravenclaw."

Lynx and Deer listened silently as the conversation went on about this or that, while memorizing everything that seemed important or at least could become important for their mission. When Neville took out a little plant, he called "Mimbulus mimbeltonia", the young woman tensed. She had read up on a few- okay, a lot of plants to see, if there were any with special healing abilities. During her search, she'd stumbled upon this plant, too, which probably was a good thing considering Neville was just talking about it's mechanism of defence. Quietly she made a few hand signs to warn her comrade. Just in time as it proved to be, because when the boy touched it with his feather it sprayed everyone with a dark-green substance. Fortunately at this point Deer and Lynx were already up and leaning flat against the ceiling, so they weren't hit.

"Sorry!" Neville coughed. "I've never tried it before… didn't know it would be this… don't worry, though, it's not venomous." He added as Harry spat a mouthful of the disgusting substance onto the floor. Exactly at this moment the compartment door slid open.

"Oh… hello Harry." A nervous voice said. "Uh… Am I interrupting something."

Harry cleaned his glasses with one hand, while holding Trevor in the other. A very pretty girl with long black hair was standing in the doorway and smiled at him: Cho Chang, Ravenclaw's seeker.

"Oh… hi."

"Well… I just wanted to stop by and say hello… so, uh, bye." She left, her cheeks tinted rosy. Meanwhile Harry wished Cho would have walked in on him, when he was around some really cool people and not, Neville and Loony Lovegood. Espescially not, when he was covered in this… whatever it was (I'm sorry, but I don't know the original name of that substance. If you know, please tell me)

"No problem. We'll easily get rid of it." Ginny told them, casting a spell that cleaned the compartment immediately. That was the moment Deer and Lynx decided it was save to get down from the ceiling again. The next hour passed without interferences until Ron and Hermione came back. They looked upset, the ANBU noted. Apparently a boy they really didn't like, a certain Draco Malfoy had become Slytherin Prefect. A heated discussion about abuse of power began and the guards tuned them out. Lynx, because she really didn't need to deal with this, and Deer, because it was just way too troublesome to listen to the noisy brats!

Too soon for the lazy genius' liking the compartment door was opened a third time, revealing a blonde boy with abnormally pale skin and two human closets, looking dumber than even Naruto in his worst days. Asking himself, why he even put up with all the troublesomeness ANBU missions presented, he turned to Harry. The scowl on the boys face henged it into an ugly grimace, but Shikamaru had expected that. The blonde boy was wearing a green and silver tie and a Prefect's badge and was therefor said Draco Malfoy…

'_This is gonna be so troublesome.' _His thoughts running in japanese.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, before Malfoy could even open his mouth.

"Behave, Potter, or do I have to punish you!" Malfoy countered relishing in his new-found power. "You realize, that I was appointed Prefect, while you weren't. Which means, that I on the contrary of you can install punishments on people."

"Yes, but you're also a bastard, which I'm not- so get out!"

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville laughed. The guards hid their amused grins behind their masks of course, but they had to give the kid credit for his wit. Malfoy on the other hand wasn't so amused. He asked, how it felt to be second after Weasley. Before Sakura and Shikamaru could think about, what that was supposed to mean, and even before any of the boys could take a breath to answer, Hermione Granger snapped at Malfoy to "Shut the hell up!".

"Seems like I hit a nerve. And be careful Potter, because I'll follow you _like a dog_, in case you planned on trying anything." That comment startled Harry. Had Malfoy meant, what Harry thought he'd meant? But the brat couldn't know about Sirius, could he? Then Malfoy's gaze fell upon the two masked figures. "What do we have here? More of those freaks, that wander around the carriages. I've already met two of them, while coming here, but none of them had pink hair. How utterly ridiculous!" He laughed and dumb as they were Crabbe and Goyle started to laugh with him. At this moment Harry almost pitied them.

Almost…

In a flash, Lynx was standing, while Deer had fled to the window, he was now sitting on. Yes, sitting on. Harry knew, the window was a vertical surface, but there was no better word to describe the ANBU's position. It seemed to the Griffindors and the Ravenclaw that he was really afraid of the pink-haired woman's reaction to Malfoy's words, though he was her superior as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny knew. Meanwhile Malfoy had stopped laughing as Lynx came to a halt right infront of him.

"What?" he snarled.

"Who do _you_ call ridiculous, you little sissy?!" the young woman growled. Malfoy was about to yell at her for calling him a sissy, Crabbe and Goyle were cracking their knuckles for insulting their coward of a boss, but the fight never came. Because before the three boys could do anything, Lynx had already raised a finger to Malfoy's forehead and snipped. Surprisingly the blonde went flying back through the opposite compartment's door. Crabbe and Goyle looked flabbergastered. A moment later the furious guard was cracking **her** knuckles and the two bullies hastily grabbed Malfoy and hurried away. Lynx returned to her seat, mumbling incoherently, though Harry was sure to have heard something along the lines of "…stupid, impertinent, little brat..." and "should've cut his balls instead…". The latter making the raven-haired boy visibly gulp.

"Sorry for the door." Deer told the occupants of the other compartment from his place on the window, but those second-years were too stunned with what had just happened to do something other than nod dumbly. "If you maim students it's gonna be troublesome. And bad for the mission, Lynx. If he's hurt, you're gonna heal him."

"But he called my hair ridiculous!" the woman protested. "I want you to know, I'm proud of my natural colour."

"Man… this is so…"

"Don't even think it, Deer."

"…troublesome." The other said anyway.

Lynx growled menancingly.

Deer moved a little up on the window, crouching to look as little as possible. He was sure, his comrade was about to hit him, too. She was already raising her fist against him. The pine-apple-head closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable to come, but the blow never came. Instead a hard jolt suddenly went through the train, throwing him and the other passengers off balance, making them roll through the compartment. Harry landed on the compartment floor, butt first. He hit his head on the opposite bench. Groaning in pain, he and the others raised from the floor, looking around to know what happened. First the reven-haired boy noticed how Deer was shaking his head, as if to get it clear. He had fallen straight on his pink-haired partner, who was still on the floor, looking up at him. Hastily getting off her, he reached out a hand to help her up. Lynx took it and was raised onto the bench, she now groggily sat on. The young woman held her head, sliding two fingers under the mask and massaging her temples, then suddenly stopped.

"Why aren't we moving?"

Now that she mentioned it, everyone else realized too, that the train had stopped. That had been the jolt, that had thrown them all through the compartment. Hermione frowned, when she noticed this.

"We can't be there yet." She said with conviction. "It's at least another two hours until we arrive at Hogwarts…" Lynx and Deer exchanged a look. Obviously something had gone wrong. "Oh my good!" Hermione screeched. "The others. Ron, we're prefects, we have to help everyone. Someone could've been hurt."

"Good idea. I'll go check what happened-" Harry started out the door, but was immediately stopped by Lynx hand on his shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere." She simply said, then nodded her head to Deer. Muttering another "Troublesome…" the lazy guard walked out the door and down the carrigaes until he reached the last one before the tractor. There he met Wolf and Cat, who were trying to calm the young wizards. They all seemed ruffled a little and disoriented, but he didn't see anyone with more than a few scraps and scratches.

"What's happening?" He asked, without even waiting for a "Hello." This wasn't the moment for courtesy.

"Apparently a few morrons are blocking the rails." Cat answered.

"Define "a few morrons", please."

"Five men are standing on the rails with their wands pulled out. The remind me a lot of members of the Ku Klux Clan, just you know… in black-" a few wizards gasped and Deer was suddenly very sure, those were muggle-borns- "Fox, Raven and Eagle are already taking care of them. This won't take long."

"I'll go help them."

"Do as you please, but I don't think it necessary."

Deer nodded, then disappeared out of a window.

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Eagle, Fox and Raven stared at their opponents a little baffled. They were wearing long black robes and immovable looking leather gloves. Their faces were hid by masks, too., only their masks looked like the face of a skeleton. Pointy hood adorned their head. If this situation wouldn't have been so serious, Neji and Sasuke were sure, they would've laughed at them.

Of course that didn't stop Naruto…

He had been laughing for the past two minutes and still couldn't collect his wits, because one look at these- admittedly ridiculous- figures sent him into another fit of laughter each and every time. At one point, Sasuke just hit him over the back of the head like Sakura would've done it, if she were here. Naruto indeed stopped laughing, but only to glare at him through his mask and Sasuke realized, he just wasn't Sakura. So her tactics wouldn't work for him, unfortunately.

He sighed. At least he had gotten Naruto to be serious again.

Scoffing at the both of them, Neji turned his attention back to the five wizards infront of him. He activated his blood-line limit to take a closer look. He opted to peak through the mask and therefore used a weaker form of the Byakugan. Memorizing how they looked like, he would give Dumbledore an accurate description and thereby find out more about these… Death Eaters. Besides, he could still look into the depth at another moment. Carefully weighing the neergy he pushed into his eyes, he saw underneath the hoods and the mask.

His attention sooned turned to two people in particular. One of them had shoulder-length silvery-white hair, that almost matched the pale tone of his skin. His pierecing blue eyes were focused on them, his expression hard. He was probably thinking about the best way to attack them. The other one was a woman and she wasn't any less bizzare. She was pale like a corps and her dark hair with streaks of a crazy lilac colour flowed wildly around her, some strands even showing, though she was wearing a hood. Her clear eyes screamed insanity and- more than anything else- bloodthirst!

They had to finish this fast!

Without further ado, he motioned for Raven and Fox to attack. Not ten seconds later a multitude of little fire balls was sent flying over to the black-clad wizards, who let out panicked screams and jumped out of the way. One of them was hit by Raven's _Hosenka no jutsu_ anyways and soon became a human torch. A second Death Eater tried to still the fire with a spray of water flowing out of his wand, but was consequently hit and knocked out by one of Fox's shadow clones.

"That's what you get for not paying attention, believe it!" The clone yelled triumphantly, only to be hit by a green light and dissolve into a cloud of smoke a moment later.

Two down, three to go.

Raven was just performing more hand seals in order to burn the rest of them, when the remaining three wizards pointed their wands at him simultanously and screamed "Avada Kedavra!". A green light shot out of their wands and flew towards the blue-haired ANBU quickly. Before it could reach him however, Eagle stepped in between, an unseen smirk on his face. Lowering his position a little, he started to rotate, gaining speed with every circle he made.

"_Kaiten!"_

The green flashes hit his chakra block and burst into a thousand sparks. It was like the fireworks at New Year's Eve or during the Great Spring Festival in Konoha. When everything had settled and no sparks were flying anymore, the three wizards were confronted with a bunch of very unhappy ANBU. Eagle had lowered into fighting stance once more. His eyes pulsing with energy, he reached out his palms and concentrated. The Death Eaters then tried to run away, but found themselves unable to move. Panicked they strengthened their attempts to run, but it turned out to be futile. The weren't able to change anything but their facial expressions…

"_Juuken_!" Eagle rumbled, before attacking.

It all ended very quickly as neither of the wizards moved to defend themselves. One touch and they went into cardiac arrest, sinking to the ground and gasping for air. Fox and Raven were about to retrive their wands, so Eagle could take back the energy, that was currently killing them, so they could interrogate them, when they all just disappeared with a light 'plop'. Raising an eye-brow they looked around:

Even their knocked out comrade and the corpse of the fifth Death Eater had disapppeared.

Irritated they kept standing there, looking around for another minute, until they heard an all to familiar muttering. The three guards turned around to see their pine-apple-headed companion leaning against the tractor of the train, just pulling his shadow back to himself from where it had stopped the Death Eater's movements. They nodded their thanks to him and returned inside. While the Hogwarts' Express traveled the last part of it's journey to the wizarding school, Eagle gave Wolf and Cat his report, while Fox and Raven accompanyed Deer back to his compartment. They stayed a moment to greet Harry ( Naruto did anyways, Sasuke just 'hned'), then moved on, making their rounds up and down the carriages to assure, that everything was fine and the rest of the journey would be uneventful…

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When Harry noticed that the horse-less cariages weren't horse-less anymore, he was baffled. Well, sure, they were _horse_-less, but there were definitely animals pulling them. Animals with a slight similarity to horses. Black horses. Black horses without any flesh, only the skeleton. Covered in black leather. And with wings!

Harry blinked.

This beasts had never been there before!

When Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna finally caught up with him, Harry saw his chance.

"What do you think are those creatures?" he asked Ron casually.

"What creatures?"

"This horse-" the boy started off, but was interrupted by Luna giving back Ron's tiny owl, telling him it would be cute.

"Uh… yeah, he's… okay… Well, let's get on the carriage." Ron replied taken aback. "What did you want to say, Harry?"

"I asked you, what those horse-beings are."

"What horse-beings?"

"Those that pull the carriage."

"What are you talking about? There is nothing to pull the carriage. It pulls itself like every year… Are you okay, Harry?"

"I- …Yeah, yeah… I'm fine. Just the stress, I guess. Let's just get on."

"It's okay!" Luna said as she came up behind him. "I can see them two, since I first came here. You're just as sane as I am." Somehow that didn't calm him. Without another word, she got into the carriage. Leisurely walking by, the two guards followed her. Lynx squeezed his shoulder lightly, before whispering in his ear:

"Don't worry. We can see them, too."

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Arriving in Hogwarts' Great Hall Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville sat down at the middle of the Griffinor table after Luna and Ginny had taken their leaves. The guards had stayed outside of the hall and for that, Harry was thankful. When he said down beside Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown and the two of them greeted him way too friendly and cheerfully for their normal selves, Harry was sure, they had just been talking about him. He decided to ignore them in favor of looking up to the teacher's table and search for Hagrid. Unfortunately the half-giant was nowhere to be seen. Just like when the first years were to be escorted to the castle, it was Professor Grubbly-Plank he found and not Hagrid.

He isn't there."

Ron and Hermione started looking for their friend too, but just like him, they couldn see him anywhere. "He can't be gone." Ron said, to which Harry replied: "Of course not!"

"You don't think, he could be… injured, dou you?" Hermione asked concerned.

"No." Harry said hastily.

"Then where is he?"

A pause ensued, before Harry silently whispered, that maybe Hagrid wasn't back from Oder buisness yet. Ron, grateful for an explanation, even if not completely convinced, readily agrred, but Hermione bit her lower lip and searched the teacher's table again, as if she would find her answer there.

"Who's _that_?" she asked and pointed to the middle of the table. Harry followed her gaze, first seeing Dumbledore in his dark purple cape with silver stars on it. The headmaster had his head inclined to his neighbour, who whispered into his ear. That she looked like an old hag, was the first thought running through Harry's mind: grey locks, adorned with a horrible pink bow, but completely fitting with the pink cardigan, she wore under her cape. As she turned her head slightly to take a sip from her cup, he reckognized the toad-face immediately.

"That's Umbridge!"

"Who?" Hermione inquired.

"She was at my hearing. She works for Fudge!"

"Nice cardigan." Ron said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"If she works for Fudge, what the hell is she doing here?" the bushy-haired girl wanted to know.

"Don't know." Harry said, but Hermione was already looking back up at the teacher's table, mumbling something.

Only moments later Professor McGonagall brought a seat for the first years to sit on, when they were being sorted. In the other hand, she held the Sorting Hat and the list with the names of the new students. Putting the Sorting Hat down onto the chair, it waited patiently until all the first years were in the room…

_**(Half an hour earlier)**_

After they left the carriage the ANBU operatives were silently waved over by a stern looking woman, her hair tied into a knot, her lips pressed into a thin line. She gave them a once-over as they were standing infront of her for her to scrutinize. The shinobi raised an eyebrow under their masks, but didn't say anything. They hadn't expected to be welcomed by everyone and this woman surely knew, who they were and what they were capable of- not to mention how few in numbers their inhibitions were!

"I'm Professor McGonnagal, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Please follow me!" the woman finally said.

"Where are you leading us?" Deer asked. She turned around to look at them again and saw that they were feeling uncomfortable. No wonder with surrondings they didn't know and people so utterly different from their own kind. Their bodies were tense, ready to bolt at any given moment. Their right hands all rested beside their leg holster, obviously to be able to draw their weapons faster if anything should happen.

Professor McGonnagal sighed.

"I'm taking you to the room, where you'll stay, during your stay. Dumbledore will introduce you after the feast tonight, so I suggest you eat the food in your quarters as soon as we get there. A house-elf will inform you, when to make your appereance in the Great Hall. Your duty will begin after the students are dismissed. We expect you to walk the students back to their dormitories. Spells that secures them from intruders will open up at your command. You'll only need one word- a password. Say it out loud and the magical doors will open. After that happens, the password is permanent. Remember that you need four though, for each house a different one- and don't go disclosing other houses passwords to the students. And of course, you'll need a password for your own dormitory."

Wolf grunted as they followed Professor McGonnagal up another staircase and down another hall. Deer sighed a "Troublesome…" again and this time, everyone agreed. They came to a halt infront of a big tapestry. It was an a map of The Five Countries. The shinobi immediately decided to 'accidentally' burn it, before they went home. They couldn't leave this here for everyone to see!

"This hallway is forbidden for the students to enter, so you'll have your peace. Please, make yourself comfortable." With that, she disappeared. They were in an oval room decorated in all shades of lavender. The shnobi settled in leaving their packs on their respective beds- this time everyone had their own and a whole room to boot! With attached bathroom, even. Returning to the common room they sat down to talk about this new information and the rules they wanted to set up. It was soon agreed on 'Yondaime' as password for their chambers. Now all they needed were four more nouns for the four Hogwarts Houses: Griffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin…

"_How about the japanese equivalent of their virtues?"_ Sakura suggested.

"_No, too obvious. All they'd have to do would be to go into the library and translate them." _Sasuke waved his hand dismissively.

"_Then what do you think about 'ramen', 'miso-soup', 'tempura' and 'sushi'?"_ our favorite blonde idiot cheered.

Everyone seatdropped.

"_NO!"_ they all chorused / shouted at him.

"_Troublesome. It should be four words, that are not or hardly related to one another. Like… bijou and sakura-"_

"_We're not using my name!"_ said pink-haired woman interrupted.

"_Just saying."_ Shikamaru shrugged.

"_That isn't a bad idea, though."_ Sayuri agreed thoughtfully._ "But I don't think, we should take 'bijou' even into consideration. If someone looked __**that **__up… but the idea is exactly how we're gonna do it. So, what word comes to your mind, when you try not to think at all?"_

"_Hikári."_ Sakura shouted.

"_Ramen."_ Naruto grinned.

"_Ryo."_ Sasuke dead-panned.

"_Icha Icha."_ Kakashi all but grunted, though in a loving manner.

"_Úmmei__."_

"_Mendoukse…"_

"_Kokóro."_ She stated. _"Mendoukse, Icha Icha and Ramen just don't count." _Sayuri sighed annoyed. Naruto pouted. Shikamaru just shrugged. Kakashi patted his beloved book comfortingly._"So, we have Hikári, Úmmei and Kokóro and… Ryo. Maybe we can find something a little longer that Ryo? Like…-"_

"_Úmmei isn't exactly long either."_ Sasuke cut in.

"_Fine, then Ryo it is."_ The brown-haired woman grumbled.

"Excuse me, sirs and misses." A squeaky voice said. They all looked down on a small, ugly creature with enormous ears and eyes. Apparently that was a house-elf. "The time has come…"

_**(During the ANBU's conversation in the Great Hall)**_

The Sorting Hat opened it's mouth and sang:

_In times of old when I was new  
And Hogwarts barely started  
The Founders of our noble school  
Thought never to be parted:  
United by a common goal,  
They had the selfsame yearning  
To make the world's best magic school  
And pass along their learning.  
"Together we will build and teach!"  
The Four good friends decided  
And never did they dream that they  
Might someday be divided,_

_For were there such friends anywhere  
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?  
Unless it was the second pair  
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?  
So how could it have gone so wrong?  
How could such friendships fail?  
Why, I was there and so can tell  
The whole sad, sorry tale.  
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
Whose ancestry is purest."  
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
Intelligence is surest."_

_Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those _

_With brave deeds to their name,"_  
_Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,  
And treat them just the same."  
These differences caused little strife  
When first they came to light,  
For each of the four founders had  
A House in which they might  
Take only those they wanted, so,  
For instance, Slytherin  
Took only pure-blood wizards  
Of great cunning, just like him,_

_And only those of sharpest mind  
Were taught by Ravenclaw  
While the bravest and the boldest  
Went to daring Gryffindor,  
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,  
And taught them all she knew,  
Thus the Houses and their founders  
Retained friendships firm and true.  
So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
For several happy years,  
But the discord crept among us  
Feeding on our faults and fears._

_The Houses that, like pillars four,  
Had once held up our school,  
Now turned upon each other and,  
Divided, sought to rule.  
And for a while it seemed the school  
Must meet an early end,  
What with dueling and with fighting  
And the clash of friend on friend  
And at last there came a morning  
When old Slytherin departed  
And though the fighting then died out  
He left us quite downhearted._

_And never since the founders four  
Were whittled down to three  
Have the Houses been united  
And they once were meant to be.  
And now the Sorting Hat is here  
And you all know the score:  
I sort you into Houses  
Because that is what I'm for,  
But this year I'll go further,  
Listen closely to my song:  
Though condemned I am to split you  
Still I worry that it's wrong,_

_Though I must fulfill my duty  
And must quarter every year  
Still I wonder whether sorting  
May not bring the end I fear.  
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
The warning history shows,  
For our Hogwarts is in danger  
From external, deadly foes  
And we must unite inside her  
Or we'll crumble from within  
I have told you, I have warned you…  
Let the sorting now begin!_

The Hat fell silent, students clapped for his performance, but for the first time there was mumbling and whispering in between. However the sorting didn't leave them with any time to ponder about that, though Nick did inform them, that the hat felt it to be his duty to warn Hogwarts, whenever it sees the need to. Afterwards there was dinner of course and by now Harry began to wonder, where the guards had disappeared to, but soon indulged in his hunger instead. At the end Dumbledore finally stood to give one of his annual speeches:

"Now that we're all digesting this wonderful dinner, I'd like to have your attention for a few moments. First of all first-years should be aware, that the forest is forbidden to everyone- and some of our older students should know that by now. (Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged forced smiles) And during this year, the right hallway on the forth floor is out of limits for every student, too!

Mr. Filch , the caretaker, asked me again to remind you that casting spells inbetween the lessons in the hallaways is not allowed, as well as a long list of other things, you can read uabout on the parchment at Mr. Filch office door. This Year we have two changes in our staff. We are happy to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will teach Care of Magical Creatures. We are also pleased to introduce Professor Umbridge to you, who'll be taking the post of teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts."

There was polite, though not very enthusiastic applause.

"Furthermore I'd like to introduce to you the following seven people." There was a loud 'poof' and a lot of smoke. As the smoke cleared there were standing seven men and women in knee-high boots, black pants, black shirts and bone-white armors. They also wore long black gloves with metallic plates attached to them and masks of white porcelain with siwrls in different colours. Three black, one purple, one crimson and two green. _**("I thought you couldn't apparate in Hogwarts?" Ron asked Hermione. "Infact, you can't. It must be their magic. It's different from our, so the protective spells didn't reckognize it."The bushy-haired girl guessed. "Mh.") **_Appearing at the entrance to the Great Hall, the seven masked men and women bridged the distance to the teacher's table in a few seconds. Six of them ran along the walls, stopping opposite to each other and making a jump for it. A metallic sound could be heard throughout the hall, as their knife-like weapons clashed and impaled themselves into the pavement. Landing graciously on their feet, the warriors then walked over leisurely to their last comrade: A grey-haired man, that instead of partaking in their show had just slouched against the teacher's table infront of Dumbledore's seat. Single applause could be heard from the headmaster, but it soon errupted into loud cheering from all the students, until Dumbledore gave them a sign. All students fell silent at once."These people, known by the names of Wolf, Cat, Eagle, Deer, Lynx, Fox and Raven are guards I hired to protect the school and everyone of you. They have every ability our top-aurors have and more. They're here for your own safety, so don't go insulting them. If they tell you to do something, then do it without questioning them. If you have questions, you may ask Wolf or Cat as they are the team's leaders. They may not answer you though… After I dismiss you, they will walk your houses back to your common rooms and tell you a few things themselves. You're not to leave without them.

And whatever you do, don't give them any reason to harm you!" he admonished everyone. "Selections for the Quidditch-Teams will be held-"

He stopped and looked down at Umbridge, then sat back in his seat as she took over to tell the students a few things. Dumbledore seemed fine with it, but other members of the staff looked more than just a little indignant.

"Thank you, headmaster for your friendly words of welcome." She said in the voice of a little school girl. Harry saw some of the guards outrightly cringe as if in pain. "It's great to be back at Hogwarts and to see all these joyful little faces." Harry looked around, but couldn't see any 'joyful' faces. "I look forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll become good friends ("I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan!" Parvate whispered to Lavender). _Chrm, chrm_." Umbridge cleared her throat and this time the blonde guard lowered into a fighting stance, before raising his face up to the woman making these annoying sounds. "The Ministry of Magic was always very interested in educating young wizards and witches. Every headmaster and every headmistress of Hogwarts had brought something new to this school and that was always a good thing, because without progress everything would come to a standstill. But you also have to decline progress that's just made for the kicks of it, you need tradition to give it it's right balance…"

At this point most of the students just stopped listening. Only after Umbridge was done and they were dismissed, did the youngsters return to life. Standing up and preparing to leave, Dumbledore cleared his throat and reminded them that the guards were to take them to their dormitories. Everyone looked up to the seven guards still standing infront of the teacher's table, seemingly discussing something with a very displeased looking Umbridge. Of course they could also be sleeping on their feet, knowing the Toad-woman's ability to 'captivate' her audience.

Quickly the students took their seats again.

Who knew, when those would be finished…

**End of the fourth chapter! **

**A/N: There, the ANBU had a halway flashy appeareance. I honestly thought, just 'apparating' into the Great Hall would be flashy enough, but then added their little show to it. I hope, you enjoyed it- of course Kakashi was too lazy. (Shikamaru was forced to participate) I'm sorry I had to cut Umbridge's speech short, too, and I'm even more sorry that I probably messed up a little in translating from the german translation back to english. I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway and leave me a review- even if you didn't like it much and tell me, what I could do better, please!**

**Kokóro means Heart**

**Hikári means Light (a very bright light)**

**Úmmei means Fate**

**Ryo is the currency of the shinobi countries**_**  
**_


	5. Rules and Confrontations

Hogwarts' ANBU 

A/N: Here comes chapter number 5! The first few days of school and how everyone is dealing with the new situation. And, of course, the first interaction with Professor Toad in DADA… Joy! (insert voice dripping with sarcasm here)

Chapter 5: Rules and Confrontations 

_(In a dark, scary place far far away from Hogwarts...)_

"I sent five of my best, most loyal Death Eaters to fulfill my wish. So why is Potter still alive, while one of my men perished and the other four were having heart attacks, when I summoned them back?!" a malicious voice fumed in the dark, it's unseen body sitting among the shadows of his throne. By his side was his precious pet snake, silently hissing, gleaming eyes on the tiny man that was cowering before them.

"He had help, my Lord!" Peter Pettigrew announced timidly.

"Help?" The Dark Lord hissed. "A bunch of kids defeated my fellow servants?"

"No, my Lord. Of course not, my Lord." The little man hastily assured. "There were… strange warriors- or so I was told..."

"Strange warriors? You mean _**muggles**_? Are you saying a group of low-lifes got the best over my pure-blood wizards?!?"

"N-no! They were magic users… one of them apparently spit fire and the other made copies of himself, my Lord. And they didn't even need a wand! From what our spy at Hogwarts told us, they are new guards from Japan. Dumbledore hired them, it seems."

"Japan!" Lord Voldemort half hissed, half whined. He had only heard about the sorcerers in japan during his time in Hogwarts, when Binns had held one of his monotone speeches about how japanese wizards turned away from the other magical communities, when the Treaty of Secrecy was signed. From what he could remember, japanese wizards and muggles lived peacefully alongside each other- the wizards using their powers to magically protect the muggles from harm.

There were three types of magic users in Japan. The first to mention were the clergy- the monks, priests and Miko, their powers coming from their belief. Then there were the Masters of Yin and Yang, with their strong spiritual powers. They controled the two elements of Taoism (A religion about Yin and Yang), the most powerful of them were said to be able to change reality itself.

And then there were the third ones.

The Shinobi!

The most segretive out of all of them. The Dark Lord had heard only rumors about them. They appeared to be a communitiy of warriors, that combined magical and muggle martial arts with absolutely no inhibitions to use them. They were mercenaries and the only thing, that they had in common with the other two forms of sorcerers in their contry was, that they didn't need a wand to perform their magic…

From what he was told, these were the people, that Dumbledore hired.

"But this game can be played by two, foolish old man." The Dark Lord laughed silently.

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The guards had been silently conversing throughout the whole little speech of the Toad-woman, deciding what they would say to the students once they've reached the common rooms. They had quickly come to a basic understanding- detailed things could be discussed when they came up. They had been almost done with their little brainstorming, when the girly-voiced woman had stepped infront of them, demanding they speak a language everyone could understand and sweetly asking for a word with one of them.

For some unknown reason the woman looking like a giant toad- or maybe it was really just a toad with some strange menkind-complex?- had stopped them from doing their duty and started to talk to them. Was she crazy? Didn't she think, it had been more than enough, that they had to listen to her little speech before? (Multi-taking, you know…) Apparently, not.

Taking Dumbledore's words into consideration, she'd obviously decided to approach him- Wolf, the Team Captain- and now he was stuck with her. Her too soft, too girly voice rang in his ears like the screaming of a banshee. A quick look around confirmed his suspiscion, that his comrades were all a good distance away from the little woman and trying to tune her out. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have that luck, because someone had to listen- just in case, it could be somehow important in the future of the mission.

Holding a reluctant sigh, he turned his attention back to Professor Umbridge.

"Do you understand me, dear?" she was asking at the moment due to his lack of response. "Or do you need a translation spell?" Now she was even giving him primitive hand signs to show her intent, if he didn't understand her words. Wolf finally sighed and she seemed to take that as her cue. Lifting her wand and pointing it at his mask, she was about to say something, when his hand grasped hers.

"No need for that. I understand you perfectly well." Wolf replied casually. This wasn't the answer, she'd hoped to get, he concluded, as she lowered her wand again, her face betraying her anger mixed with disappointment. She'd probably hoped to cast some other spell on him to get some information.

"Well, have you been listening to me, then?"

"…No."

Now, she was surely fuming with anger.

"Fine." Professor Umbridge huffed. "I asked you, who you were and why you are here, mister."

"I'm Wolf, this is my team- I believe we were introduced by the headmaster already- and we're here to protect the school." The silver-haired ANBU answered with slight irritaion. He didn't like people asking questions.

"Yes." The woman huffed again. "But _who_ are you? What kind of people are you and where do you come from?"

"Do you think, we would be wearing masks, if we wanted everybody to know, just _who_ we are, lady?!" That was the blonde one. Fox. He came over with a few steps, before he spoke up again. "That would be a little idiotic, _ne_?"

"As for the rest. It's none of your concern." Lynx added quietly. She was annoyed, everyone in the team could tell. She didn't like that woman- actually, it was safe to say, she hated her! Even though they just met, she had the sinking feeling that this woman would mean nothing but trouble. She had, on the contrary of Fox and the others- maybe except for Deer- listened to her lullaby of a speech and what she had heard didn't sit well with her. It didn't sit well with her at all.

"Do you know, who you're talking too?" the woman gave an indignant scoff.

"No." Everyone said.

"I am the first-" Umbridge began, but was interrupted by Lynx, who was getting all the more grouchy with every minute passing.

"…and we do not care either, so shut up and let us do our job."

"How dare you?!" the 'pink punk', as Fox had quietly put it earlier(he almost got himself killed, when Lynx thought, he was talking about her), when he had first laid eyes on the offending witch, roared.

"How dare I what?!" Lynx hissed venomously.

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"I just did."

"I'm the first-" Again, she was interrupted.

"Didn't you listen to her, you troublesome woman?" Deer asked, seething with annoyance. "We don't care who you are or what power you hold. We're just here to do, what we were hired for- and being friendly and demure is not part of the bargain! So stop being so troublesome and just let us be!"

Professor Umbridge stared dumbfounded. How dare they speak to her like this? Who did this people think they were? She was the right hand of the secretary and they… they were just guards! Some strange people from an obviously primitive culture, maybe even halfbloods that were here only at Dumbledore's grace. She was a teacher in this school, not to mention an important politician- they were far out of her league!

And seemingly they took her shocked silence as an agreement, because the ANBU operatives had already turned their back on her and were discussing, which one of them would accompany which table. When she was about to open her mouth and tell them, that this conversation wasn't over yet, the brown-haired female barked an order and all attention turned to her.

"Deer, Lynx, Fox and Raven, you'll guide the houses back to their dormitories. Deer will decide, who is to go with what table and who leaves first as he outranks all three of you others. Eagle, Wolf and I will go scout the castle and surroundings. We'll report back to you later on! We haven't decided, who's gonna take nightwatch yet, either." she told them.

And with a puff of smoke, the three vanished.

The other four team members turned around to the gaping croud. Apparently, they had never seen someone teleport?! Or maybe it was the gear… Deer cleared his throat and the Hogwarts students couldn't help but notice, that it didn't sound so much like a strained rasp, when **he** did it:

"Could I please get you attention for a moment. Please, be quiet or it will be all the more troublesome. And I'm sure, you all just want to hit the pillow and get a good night's rest." He waited until everyone was quiet, before he continued. "As we are in four, you can already quess, how it's gonna be. Every house will go with one of us. And we'll go one after another. I don't want any problems, because of some people, who want to force their ways through the crowd."

Here he made a pause to gauge the reaction, but, though seemingly unnerved, the students just stayed silent.

"Fine. The Slytherin table will go first. Raven will accompany you to your dormitory and then explain some things to you. Therefor you are to stay in the common room, until he dismisses you, am I clear?" An affirmative grumble went through the table decorated in green as they all stood to their feet to follow a hastily marching guard with bluish-dark hair, who was pushing the prefects in order to get the house to their common room.

"Me next! Me next!" the blonde almost jumped happily.

The pink-haired one smacked him up the head.

"Impatient as ever, Fox. That's such a troublesome trait. I wanted to go next, but fine. Have it your way. Take the Hufflepuff House and get moving." Deer sighed. For everyone to hear, he said: "Next, the yellow house with the badger will go. Fox is gonna go with you. I'll come to you as soon as I'm finished with my house to tell you the new rules."

"Hey! That's my job!"

"I'm not trusting you with something this important. You tend to mess up when you have to remember something." Deer simply stated. "Now, off you go!" As they waited for Hufflepuff to leave the Great Hall, the pine-apple-head turned to his comrade. "I'll go next. It'll be troublesome enough without all the waiting. Take the Griffindor house back to their dormitories and tell them everything they need to know. Afterwards, we'll meet up with the Captains and decide about the nightwatch."

"Okay!" the pink-haired girl chimed as her male companion ushered the Ravenclaws out of the giant hall. She waited a moment, before she waved the last students to the entrance and followed the two new prefects through the hallways and up the stairs until they were infront of the a portrait of a very fat lady.

"Password?" she asked.

"Oh, I _know_ it." That was the chubby boy from the train- Neville… something. "_Mimbulus mimbeltonia_."

But the portrait didn't move. The Fat Lady shook her head.

"But, he's right." Ron protested. "That's the password we were given."

"That was probably before Dumbledore had the idea of leaving that to us." Came the pink-haired ANBU's voice as she finally caught up with the people standing right infront of the picture. Then again, to catch up with them, she would've had to walk over people and, though she didn't have any inhibitions in regard, she really didn't feel like arguing tonight. So, she'd just walked up the walls and was now jumping down into the little circle the students backed out of.

"Password?" the Fat lady asked again.

"Kokoro." She answered.

The Fat Lady made a welcoming gesture and the portrait swung aside. Mumbling and grumbling the students entered their common room, while Lynx reminded them not to go anywhere just yet. "And please, leave me a seat. It's been a long day!" she admonished them gently. When everyone was seated or standing inside, Lynx finally took her seat at the fire, arching her back comfortably.

"Very well. As ou know, there will be some new rules in Hogwarts. I'm here to tell you, what they are. Please, don't interrupt me and if you have questions, you may ask after I've finished. The rules will come into force immediately and every violation that comes to our attention will be severly punished. Please understand that these new rules are not meant as a mockery, but to keep you safe."

Everyone nodded.

Lynx took a deep breath.

"Rule No. 1: Every student is to be back in their dormitories by eight o'clock. No one is to leave afterwards. If you decide to take a moonshine walk, then pray that this Mr. Filch finds you, before we do. Because if we find you- and do not kid yourselves, we will- even if you hide behind an invisibility cloak, -" Here she inclined her head in Harry's direction- "Sensei will think up your punishment and I'll tell you now: He's not called a sadistic bastard for nothing!"

"Sensei?"Lavender asked.

"The silver-haired one with the Wolf-mask. And always remember: It's silver, not grey. Don't _ever_ call his hair grey, if you cherish your life!"

This was followed by an awkward silence.

"Rule No. 2: Every class is to be taken to it's lesson by a teacher or a guard or at least go in large groups. ("Sounds like when the Basilisk was out and about-" Parvati mumbled.) Silence! This rule is to make sure you're save all the time.

Rule No. 3: If given an order by one of us, you're to obey immediately. Rest assured, that we won't order you to bring us coffee, but only use this power if necessary- or to tell you to shut up, if you annoy us! You're also to cooperate with us. Meaning?! If we ask a question, we expect you to answer right away.

Rule No. 4: Don't try to pull pranks on us. We're here to protect you, don't take advantage of that. Besides, our people's greatest prankster is on our team- Fox. We've grown up with his stupid tricks and know them all. We'll sniff your prank a mile away. This rule is espescially for you two-" she said indicating the Weasley twins. "And when you start to think about a prank, always remember what I told you about Wolf being a sadistic bastard-"

"I'm very sure his parents were married, when he was born." A calm voice stated. Lynx turned around in a heartbeat, some strange knife in one hand. Standing behind her at the entrance to the common room was Raven.

"Oh god! Raven!" she barked. "How many times have I told you, not to sneak up on me like that?!"

Raven shrugged: "You're ANBU. You should notice."

"Grr!" the pink-haired kunoichi growled.

Raven thought it wise to placate her… and quickly!

"Look, I.. erm I was finished with the brats and came to pick you up. What's taking you so long, anyway?" he wanted to know.

"What's taking me? How could you be ready so fast?" she countered, then she realized. "Oh, of course. You just bluntly told them in a barking manner without explaining anything or saying a word more than needed."

"Obviously."

"Yeah. Obviously. Anyway, I was almost done. So, where was I?"

"At saying what a 'sadistic bastard' your 'sensei' is." Fred and George reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Always remember that, before you do anthing, that could piss him off. Now, let's get on with it!" she grumbled. The other team members, that hadn't been stuck with walking up and down the train or watching a teenager had read up on Hogwarts' traditions and decided to scratch one in particular- at least until they found a better solution! They had briefed their comrades with handsigns, while McGonnagall-sensei had led them to their dormitories.

"Rule No. 5: Well, it's not actually a rule, but more of a notification: All Hogsmead Weekends are cancled-"This was received with indignant groaning and even a few shouts. "Silence. SILENCE!" Everyone turned quiet. "You didn't let me finish. All Hogsmead Weekends are cancelled for the time being. We will discuss every appointment for these Weekends with your teachers. If, and only if, we can guarantee your safety you'll be allowed to go. But even then, three- till fifth-years only in groups of at least five people. Sixth- to seventh-years in groups of at least three. The exception of this rule is obviously, if you can get one of us or one of your teachers to accompany you. All clear?"

The students glared at her.

"Good. That should be it for now." She turned to her comrade and linked her arm with his, imagening the frown hidden beneath his mask. "Let's go, Raven-kun." Unbeknowst to her, her male companion wasn't at all irritated by their physical contact, just surprised. Actually, he felt oddly at peace with their closeness. Without so much as sparing the children another glance, the two guards left at a fast pace, hoping luck would be with them tonight, so they wouldn't have to take the nightwatch.

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Neji normally found it amusing to watch, how newly found couples or love interests acted around each other- espescially when they thought no on was looking or when they were trying to hide it. All those long-side glances and lingering touches they would bestow upon each other, when they felt safe to do so, proofed to be highly entertaining to him. While his friends noticed nothing out of the normal, his all-seeing eyes caught every betraying little motion, every suspiscious gaze no matter how short.

It always served to humor him…

And he had won quite a lot of bets this way!

But right now, Neji was anything but amused. They were standing too close, way too close for comfort. They always did that. Standing so close to each other, without touching, yet certainly able to feel each other's warmth. And he didn't like it! No, he despised it. How could he not, when he could feel the rush of protectiveness in his heart. His aunt was a very capable woman, he had told himself that over and over again. Not to mention an adult. She could hook up with whomever she wanted.

But that it had to be **him** of all people!

Why? Why the 'anti-social hermit' (as Sasuke had put it) that was Hatake Kakashi?!

Of course, they would deny every connection between them, aside from their friendship. Whenever asked, they would say, they were 'just friends', but really: Nobody believed a word of it!

'Just friends' wouldn't visit one another after every mission, the moment they got back and with no consideration of the time. But: Be it day or night, for the last year after Sayuri's return Hatake had come visit her, whenever he got back. Once even breaking into her bedchamber at the Hyuuga compound, when the family had still taken care of her.

'Just friends' wouldn't spend every minute of their free time either sparring or going to eat ice cream or lunch or dinner or tea- hell, sometimes they even made up meals just to hang around!

'Just friends' wouldn't share so much physical contact, when not necesarry, not even 'best friends'. Yet, they seemed to be glued to the hips both metaphorically **and** literally.

And for heaven's sake, no matter how you saw it, for someone, who was 'just a friend' Hatake Kakashi wouldn't put away his beloved dirty little companion into his pocket, whenever she spoke to him!!!

Everyone knew that.

As much as everyone knew, they would get together officially, one day or another. Neji was fairly sure, that they hadn't done anything yet. Their body language screamed closeness, attraction even, but no intimacy- at least not on a physical level. Which is, what every shinobi was betting about at home. It was the Hokage's idea (of course !) and soon enough everyone had joined in. The prize was all the money every participant had put into the betting pot and a free vacation to Moon Country. By now, there wasn't one of their jonin comrades that hadn't joined in yet.

Even the Genin were betting!

Hell, even Naruto was betting!!!

Byakugan still activated from scouting outside the school, Neji watched as Sayuri apparently reported back to Kakashi on what she'd seen so far. Kakashi seemed to listen intenly, while his hands, which lay on her shoulders, softly caressed the column of her neck. Judging from her facial expression, she seemed to quite enjoy it, too. Quickly Neji decided to deactivate his bloodline limit, because otherwise he would probably be caught watching sooner or later, when Sayuri used her Byakugan again.

Grumbling, the eagle-masked ANBU Captain left for their quarters.

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Soon after the guards had left, Harry and Neville went up into the room they shared with the other boys of their year. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were already there and occupied with hanging their photographs and posters onto the walls. The boys had been in the middle of a discussion, when Harry opened the door. At noticing him they quickly fell quiet, so that Harry thought, that they had been talking about him and right after that, he thought if he was becoming paranoid!

"Hi." He greeted them, walked over to his suitcase and opened it.

"Hey, Harry." Dean answered, putting on his pajamas in the colours of his favorite socker team. "Had a nice vacation?"

"Was okay, I guess." Harry muttered, because a truthful answer would have taken up most of the dark hours of the night to tell. "You too?"

"Yeah!" Dean giggled. "Better than Seamus' anyway. He just told me."

"What happened?" Neville asked, while putting his mimbulus mimbeltonia lovingly on his nightstand.

Seamus didn't answer immediately; first making sure that his poster of his favorite Quidditch Team was safely hanging from the wall. Then he said with his back still to Harry: "My mom didn't want me to come back."

"What?" Harry asked bewildered.

"She didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts."

"But- why?" Harry knew that Seamus' mother was a witch. That's why he couldn't understand, why she would act like his uncle.

"Well… I guess… because of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" the boy started to explain, still avoiding Harry's gaze at all costs. "Not only, because of you, but also because of… Dumbledore."

"She believes what… She believes that I'm a liar and Dumbledore an old fool!"

Finally, Seamus looked up into his face.

"More or less."

Harry didn't dignify that with an aswer, instead he opted for throwing his wand onto his nightstand, shrugging his cape over his shoulders, stuffed it into his suitcase and slid on his pajamas. It disgusted him; he was sick of being the one, everyone stared at and everyone talked head off about- like he was some kind of bizzare animal in a zoo! If only one of them knew, if only one of them could understand, how it was, when all these things happen to you… Mrs. Finnigan came to mind and Harry decided that she was just another stupid woman without the slightest idea. He climbed into bed and was about to close the curtains, when Seamus spoke up again in a nervous yet interested tone:

"Listen… what happened that night as… you know… as Cedric Diggory…"

"What do you want from me?" Harry replied, almost snapped. "Why don't you just read the newspapers like your mother? They tell you all, that you need to know."

"Stop insulting my mother!" Seamus hissed.

"I'll insult whomever calls me a liar!"

"You won't talk to me like that!"

"I talk to you like the hell I want to!" Harry replied, the anger boiling so much,he garsped his wand from the nightstand and pointed it directly at the other boy. "If you've got a problem with me in this room, why don't you go ask McGonnagall, if you can move out… then your mother won't have to worry about you anym-"

"Leave my mother out of this, Potter!"

"What's happening here?" Ron was standing in the doorway. His eyes were wide and he was looking from Harry, who kneeled on the bed and pointed his wand at Seamus, to Seamus, who stood their, his fist raised.

"He's insulting my mother."

"Harry would never do that. We got to know your mother and thought of her as a very nice person-"

"That was before she believed in every word in the _Prophet_!" Harry snarled.

"Oh." Ron said, realization dawning on him. "Oh… I see."

"You know what?" Seasmus spat angrily. "He's right. I don't want to sleep in the same room as him. He's crazy."

"That's completely idiotic, Seamus!" Ron grumbled, his ears glowing red.

"Idiotic, huh?" Seamus snapped back at him. "You believe the whole shit he tells everyone about You-Know-Who?, you think he's telling the truth?"

"Yes, indeed!"

"Then you're nuts too."

"Oh yeah? Tough look, because I'm a prefect now." Ron warned him. "So keep your tongue in check." For a moment Seamus looked as if he thought extra-work would be an acceptable price for saying what he thought about anything, but then he turned on his heels and made a jump for his bed, closing the curtains with such force that they tore and fell to the floor. Ron looked at the other boy angrily, then he turned to Dean and Neville.

"Someone else's parents got issues with Harry?" he asked aggressively.

"My parents are muggles, buddy." Dean answered shrugging his shoulders. "They don't know anything about casualties in Hogwarts, because I'm not stupid enough to tell them."

"You don't know my mother, she presses everything out of you" Seasmus yelled at him. "Besides, your parents don't read the _Prophet_. They have no idea of what's been going on in Hogwarts and to Dumbledore, because he's gone insane."

"My grandma says, that nonesense!" Neville interjected. ""She says, it's the _Daily Prophet_ that's going down, not Dumbledore. We believe Harry." He stated simply, climbing onto his bed, covering himself with the blanket and looking over to Seamus. "My grandma always said, You-Know-Who would come cack one day. She thinks, if Dumbledore says, he's back, then he is back."

Harry felt incredibly grateful towards Neville. Nobody said anything after that. Seasmus repaired the curtains of his bed with a flick of his wand and disappeared behind them. Dean lay down in his bad, turned his back to them and fell silent. Neville, who didn't seem to have anything else to say, was watching his little plant affectionately. Harry leaned back into his pillows, while Ron busied himself with unpacking. The argument with Seamus had brought up a question withing Harry's mind.

How many other people would accuse him of telling lies or to be mad?

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With loud flattering noises the owls flew by to take letters and packages to their respective owners and spread a light drizzle over the tables and students- apparently outside it was storming! Harry's owl however was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't surprise the Boy-Who Lived. The only person sending him letters was Sirius and Harry doubted that his godfather had something new to report after only 24 hours. Hermione on the other hand had to shove her glass with orange juice out of the way to make space for one of the birds, that gave her a very soaked copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

"Why do you even still read that?" Harry asked irritated and had to think of Seamus, while Hermione payed the owl.

"It's good to know what the enemy thinks." She answered as she looked over the newspaper. "Nothing. Nothing about you or Dumbledore."

Professor McGonnagal walked alongside the Griffindor table and gave them their schedules.

"Look at what we have today! Ron groaned. "History of Magic, a double-hour Potions, Divination and a double-hour Defence against the Dark Arts… Binns, Snape, Trelawney and this Umbridge-woman, all in one day! Hopefully Fred and George finish up with those special sweets of theirs ( does someone know, how they are called in english. I couldn't find the name anywhere)." Oh, yes, the twins were making very special 'sweets', that were supposed to make you ill, after eating one half- in order to leave the class- and get you better again, when you ate the other.

Hermione was furious.

"Do I hear correctly?" Fred chimed, who just appeared beside them with his brother George. "A prefect that wants to skip school?"

"Look, what we have today!" Ron muttered darkly, showing him his schedule. "That's the worst Monday I've ever seen."

"How very true, brother dear." Fred said as he took notice of their lessons. "If you want, you can get nosebleed-nougat (sp?), it's a special offer."

"Why?"

"Because you bleed and bleed until you die. We haven't found an antidote yet." George answered.

"Well, thank you so much!" Ron said sarcastically. "I think I'll rather go to the lessons then."

"And since we're already talking about those… 'sweets'." The bushy-haired girl spoke up. "You can't recruit students to test them for you on the common room blackboard."

"Says who?"

"Says me." She answered. "And Ron."

"Leave me out of this." Said male hastily reminded her. Hermione glared at him, while Fred and George giggled.

"You'll think differently soon, Hermione. You're fifth-years now, which means this is your O.W.L year. You'll be begging for our sweets."

"And why would I? Just because it's O.W.L year?!" she snorted as if to say, she highly doubted it.

"That…" George answered.

"And the fact, that you have a new class, that will be everything but pleasant. We have it, too. On Friday. If I read your schedule correctly, you'll have it on Thursday." Fred continued for his brother. "Take a look."

"Blimey, Mione!" Ron exclaimed, after taking another glance. "He's right. Thursday afternoon- after every other lesson- we have another class: Tai… Taiiust…"

"Taijutsu, Ron." A familiar soft voice said. "Hand-to-Hand combat… and possibly some weaponry later on." When they turned around they saw the brown-haired woman with the Cat-mask stand behind them. "And your twins are right, it won't be pleasant. Wolf is teaching it. Don't worry, though. He's hard, but he's the best."

"…Great!" they all chorused unenthusiastically.

Cat chuckled.

"Come now or you will be late for class."

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As expected the day passed by slowly. Binns was still as much of a sleeping pill as he had been last year and Snape still hated Harry just as much as ever and was unfair in his regards. The only interesting thing so far had been the changing of guards, occurring before Divination. Though Cat had told them to hurry up, it had been Wolf, who had been following Harry's class around all day. So he did, when the students marched up to the tower for another craziness filled lesson with Trelawney, too. Just as Harry and Ron joined the line of people waiting infront of the door to the eccentric teacher's study, the silver-haired man began to cough harshly.

"What's happening?" Lavender asked. "Is he ill?"

"Yeah, are you alright, mate?" Ron added as the guard put a gloved hand on the wall to help support himself, while giving another series of loud coughes.

"I… cough cough… I'm al- cough cough cough… alright! Cough." He managed to say, before he turned away from them and pushed a little botton on some sort of collar. When he began to speak in hushed tones- with a lot of coughing in between- Harry realized, the guard was wearing a head-set. Then he shook his head. That wasn't possible! Electronic devices didn't work in Hogwarts; Hermione had told them once. But then again, these same guards had also apparated into the Great Hall, which was supposed to be impossible too. The next moment he could here the cracking noise of the radio as someone obviously answered.

A 'poof' was heard and soon after Cat emerged from the smoke. Walking over to her male comrade she patted his back, when he started to cough violently again, and rubbed his arm lightly in comfort.

"Are you alright?" she wanted to know.

"Do I… cough cough… seem alright to… cough… you?"

"No." Cat stated bluntly. "What is it?"

"Go inside there and take a sniff, then you'll know." The male guard muttered darkly.

"Oh…It's okay." She said. "I'll take over… but you owe me, Wolf."

"Yeah, y… cough… yeah."

With a puff of smoke, he disappeared.

"What just happened?" Dean asked. "He isn't ill, is he?"

"No, no. That's not it." Cat chuckled. "But my friend has very keen senses and I can smell the parfume of this woman even here. I guess, with his sensitive nose, it was all a little much for him. Poor Wolf."

The class nodded dumbly. Lavender and Parvati seemed to be torn, between being angry at him (they adored Professor Trelawney) and pity him. In that precise moment the door finally swung open and took the weight to decide off their shoulders as everyone walked in- only to feel totally exhausted upon getting out, at least in Harry's case.

Next was Defence against the Dark Arts.

Harry's favorite class. Or at least it was until now.

When they entered the classroom they found Umbridge already sitting at her table, again wearing her fluffy pink cardigan and a velvety black bow on her head. Harry felt again reminded of a big fly, stupid enough to sit on a toad's head. The rest of the class entered the room silently; Professor Umbridge was unknown to them, so they decided better not to risk anything with her yet. At long last Cat came walking through the door, closing it behind her and leaning on the wall beside it.

Professor Umbridge scowled.

"Would you please leave the classroom, dear!" she said in her girliest girly voice; the guard almost visibly shivered. "You're intimidating the students."

Cat looked around. None of the children looked frightened, only curious.

"No." She said simply.

Umbridge's scowl grew.

"Leave my class immediately, guard or-"

"Captain."

"What?" the Toad-woman asked bewildered for a moment.

"The correct way to adress me is by my rank: _taichou_ or 'Captain' in your language!" Cat patronized the older woman.

"Well, **Captain**, leave!"

"No."

"I'm the teacher-" Umbridge screeched in a high-pitched voice.

"And I'm the guard. I outrank you."

"What?"

"As ANBU I report to no one, but the Kage of my country- or my client. You're neither…"

This would be a long lesson, the kids thought as they watched the exchange.

**End of the fifth chapter!**

A/N: Well, that was the fifth chapter. I hope you like it. I know it lacks a little bit of action, but I needed to introduce the characters to each other and I couldn#t have the ANBU fight Umbridge full out... yet. Well, anyway, please leave a review and tell me what you think.

Ja ne!

Mayet


	6. Umbridge

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**A/N: I finally found a better, or rather, she found me. Lupanari is so nice to look through the chapters, before I post them.**

**_To Dark Thorned Rose:_** I understand, how you can't like any OC, unless you have detailed info about them, because I have the same problem. Don't worry, though, Cat's Past will be revealed at one point in the story. Until then, I'll put suggestions and ideas into the plot to give you cues. I did it this way, because most of you already know the book (probably all of you) and that made me hesitate to even start writing this story, until Cat put herself into my mind- don't ask me how, because I don't know! So I made up this person, but if I told you everything in the beginning, where would be the fun in that?!?

**Now on with the story! **

**Chapter 6: Umbridge**

"You're…- you can't…- I'm-" Professor Umbridge stammered incoherently. She was seemingly at a loss for words at the audacity of the other woman. Still in shock, that was constantly over-powered by rage, the grey-haired teacher slowly stood. Not that it made much of a difference! Her cheeks flaming furiously, she pointed her wand at the female guard, who immediately tensed- not in a scared, but in an attentive way.

Under her mask, Sayuri's eyes narrowed. Was this woman- this toad- really going to attack her? From what they had gathered from her speech and a brief exchange she and Wolf had with Dumbledore afterwards, Professor Umbridge wasn't a teacher of the headmaster's choice. She was actually put into her position by a new law, the Minister had enforced not too long ago. Umbridge was, in one word, a **spy**! Now, that was nothing uncommon for Cat, nor could she damn the woman for it- she herself wasn't any better, really! Dumbledore had told them to be on their guard around the Toad-woman what with her being the only teacher in Hogwarts that wasn't loyal to him. The headmaster had mentioned that she was obsessive and maybe a little bossy, but he never said anything about completely suicidal…

"You. Will. Leave. Immediately." The grey-haired witch pronounced every word as if she was speaking to some foreign idiot with no idea of her language, a retarded person, or a four year old child.

But Cat hadn't been a child since she became jounin, dammit!

"You really don't want to do this," The ANBU guard calmly told her. Cat didn't want a fight, even if it was fairly obvious who would win.

"Ha!" Umbridge giggled like a little school-girl. Cat cringed inwardly. "You think, you stand a chance against **me**- the Minister's right hand?!"

"No," The brown-haired guard dead-panned, which took everyone by surprise- even Umbridge herself. Startled for a moment she lost concentration and the next one after a puff of smoke found her with her right hand pinned to her back in Cat's strong hold, wand thrown carelessly at the other end of the room, and a knife at her throat. "I **know** that you wouldn't stand a chance against me." Cat released her hold on the Toad-woman and not one moment too soon. Bursting through the door came the blond guard – Fox – a swirling ball of blue energy in hand, Eagle closely behind him. Harry was sure, those two wouldn't have hesitated to attack Professor Umbridge, if they'd come in a second before- and that swirling ball, which was now decreasing in size until it just faded away, left the impression to be extremely dangerous.

"What's going on here?" Fox asked, excited.

"Nothing." With a final glance at Umbridge, Cat returned to her post at the door and 'shooed' her friends out of the classroom. Still baffled they followed suit, but not before their female companion promised to tell them everything later on. Turning her head to the still shaking teacher, she added. "Please, continue as if I wasn't there. Boy! Get that wand and bring it over to your sensei." To Harry's silent amusement, Seamus jumped out of his seat at her sharp tone and hurried to fulfill her request. Eventually everyone calmed down, Umbridge took her seat again and greeted them. Her voice was audible, though still a little quivering:

"Good afternoon, class."

"Hi," Some of them muttered back.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That isn't good enough, is it?" She chirped. "I'd like you to say "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge". Again, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge!" everyone chorused, though without much conviction.

"It's getting better," Professor Umbridge smiled sweetly. "It wasn't that hard, was it? Put your wands away and get your quills out, please." She ordered them. Many of the students exchanged dark looks. The order to put their wands away had never been followed by an interesting lesson. Harry pocketed his wand and rummaged through his schoolbag until he found parchment, ink and feather and put them on his desk. Professor Umbridge pulled her wand out again; very slowly as Harry noticed, maybe in order not to alert the guard, who was still standing by the door in a slouched position. With a flick of the wooden stick she conjured words on the blackboard.

Defence against the Dark Arts

A return to the basics

"Well then, you class in this subject has been quite fickle and fragmental, right?" Professor Umbridge stated as she turned to her class. "The constant change of teachers, some of which didn't even follow an approved curriculum, sadly led to our problem today. You're nowhere close to O.W.L level. Therefor you will be pleased, that it was decided that these problems should be resolved. This year we'll have a very carefully planned, theoretically centred curriculum, that is approved by the ministry. Please, copy the following."

With another flick of her wand the first message disappeared to make space for another one: "Class aims"

Understanding of the basics of defensive magic

Recognizing situations in which defensive magic is allowed.

Putting the usage of defensive magic in connection with the pratical use.

While the students copied the indications on the blackboard, Sayuri read and re-read the words over carefully. Soon she frowned underneath her mask. This woman- not to mention the whole ministry of these wizards- couldn't really be that stupid, right? Voldemort being on the loose or not, this was just ridiculous. The kids wouldn't survive a day out there, if this was everything the Toad-woman was going to teach them. What kind of a sensei wouldn't prepare her students for everything?!! When everyone had copied the whole message from the board, Professor Umbridge asked, if every student had a copy of the book she had put on the school's list.

A little mumbling could be heard, but it was evident that the students had gotten their copies of said book. Still, it wasn't enough for that disgusting woman.

"I think, we'll have to try again," she said. "If I ask you a question, you are to answer with "Yes, Professor Umbridge" or "No, Professor Umbridge". Well: Did everyone get a copy of Theory of Magical Defence?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," they all answered at once.

"Good," the grey-haired woman said. "Open the book on page five and read the first chapter. I don't want to hear any conversations." Professor Umbridge took a few steps back, away from the blackboard, sank down onto her chair and watched them with her giant eyes. Harry opened his book and began to read. It was terribly boring, just as bad as listening to Professor Binns. He could feel, how his concentration slipped away; soon enough he'd read the same line half a dozen times, without understanding more than the first few words. Silence filled minutes passed by. Beside him, Ron unconsciously twirled his feather over and over again, while staring at the same spot in the book.

Harry looked to his right and what he saw surprised him so much, that he was thrown out of his trance. Hermione hadn't even opened her Theory of Magical Defence. She stared at Umbridge with her hand raised. Harry couldn't remember any moment of time, where Hermione hadn't read what a teacher had told her to read. He looked strangely at her, but she shook her had to indicate that she wouldn't answer questions right now- all the while staring openly at Professor Umbridge, who was doing her best to ignore her. But soon Harry wasn't the only one showing more interest in Hermione's silent crusade, than the book they were supposed to be reading. More and more students decided to watch the bushy-haired girl, even the guard had inclined her head into Hermione's direction and Umbridge couldn't pretend not to notice anymore.

"Did you want to ask a question about the chapter, my dear?" Professor Umbridge asked, showing the class her little pointed teeth.

"No, not to this chapter."

"Well, we're reading it right now. If you want other information, you could come to my desk after class."

"I'd like information about your course aims," Hermione stated sternly.

'_Smart girl! She noticed.'_ Cat thought, smirking under her mask.

"Professor Umbridge raised an eyebrow. "And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger, I think, the curse aims are perfectly clear, if you read them carefully." Professor Umbridge exclaimed with carefully friendly voice.

"Not to me," Hermione replied bluntly. "There's nothing about **using** defensive magic."

"Using defensive magic?" Professor Umbridge repeated after a short, shock-filled silence, while the students finally got a grip on the meaning of their class aims. "I can't think of a scenario, where you would be in need of using defensive magic, Ms. Granger. You're aren't seriously expecting to be attacked within these classroom's walls, are you?"

"We aren't going to use spells?" Ron asked loudly.

"Students raise their hands, if they wish to speak in my class, Mr-?"

"Weasley," Ron answered, and raised his hand. Professor Umbridge, whose smile had grown wider, turned away from him. Harry and Hermione raised their hands immediately, too. Umbridge's eyes laid on Harry for a moment, before she turned to Hermione again.

"Yes, Ms. Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes. The whole point of Defence against the Dark Arts is to learn how to use of defensive spells, right?"

"Are you a ministry acknowledged educational expert, Ms. Granger?" Professor Umbridge asked, still in that insufferable sweet tone of voice.

"No, but-"

"Then, I don't think, you are qualified to say what the** whole point** of a class is. Wizards, who are older and more intelligent than you, invented this program. You'll learn to use defensive magic in a safe, riskless-"

"What's the sense of that?" Harry burst. "If we're attacked-"

"Raise your hand, Mr. Potter."

Harry fist shot into the air. Again Professor Umbridge turned away from him, but now many others had raised their hands.

"And your name is?" she asked Dean.

"Dean Thomas."

Well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" Dean picked up, where Harry had been interrupted before. "If we're attacked, it won't be a riskless situation."

"I'll repeat myself," Professor Umbridge said, smiling at Dean in a very unnerving way. "Do you expect to be attacked during class?"

"No, but-"

Professor Umbridge didn't allow him to finish. "I don't want to question, how this school has been led until today, but you have been given into the care of very irresponsable wizards in regards of this particular class, not to mention-" she laughed spitefully-" very dangerous half-breeds."

"If you're talking about Professor Lupin, he was the best-"

"Raise your hand, Mr. Thomas!" Umbridge admonished. "Well, it's the interpretation of the ministry that theoretical knowledge of the workings of defensive magic is more than enough to bring you through the exams. And that's what school is about, after all. And your name, my dear?" she added with a gentle gaze over to Parvati.

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical part to the O.W.L exams in Defence against the Dark Arts? Aren't we supposed to show that we are actually able to use the spells we learn in this class?"

"If you learn the theory accurately, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to conjure the spells asked from you in the exam," Umbridge answered sweetly. Sayuri couldn't believe her ears. Was this woman really that dense? In the shinobi world, even Academy students learned how to defend themselves. You couldn't even become a genin without at least knowing a few basic defensive jutsu, like the henge to hide yourself or simple clones to confuse your enemies. They knew, they could be attacked at any given moment, and trained hard to be prepared for every eventuality.

Pakkun was right: Wizards were nuts!

"The theory won't help us in the real world, though!" Harry suddenly said aloud.

"This is a school, not the real world, Mr. Potter."

"So we aren't supposed to be prepared, for what awaits us out there."

'_Good boy.'_

"There's nothing out there, Mr. Potter."

"Oh, yeah?" Harry said. His anger was boiling.

'_Great.'_ Sayuri now inwardly groaned in frustration. _'The boy's losing control- and fast!'_

"Who do you think would attack some young children like you, Mr. Potter?"

"Hmm, let's see…" Harry replied, faking thoughtfulness. "Maybe… Lord Voldemort?" Ron gasped, Lavender Brown shrieked, and Neville fell sideways from his chair. Professor Umbridge on the other hand didn't even twitch. She stared at Harry with an expression of grim satisfaction.

"Ten points from Griffindor, Mr. Potter." The class was motionless and silent. Everyone stared at either Harry or Umbridge. "Now let me clarify a few things." Professor Umbridge stood and leaned forward on her desk. "You were told that a certain Dark Wizard has returned from the dead-"

"He isn't dead." Harry interrupted.

"You-have-already-lost-ten-points-for-your-house-don't-make-it-harder-on-yourself." Professor Umbridge said in a strained tone, without looking at him. "As I said just now, you were told, that a certain Dark Wizard was back. **That's a lie**."

"It's NOT a lie! I saw him, I fought with him."

"Detention, Potter. Tomorrow afternoon in my office. At five. I repeat, it's a lie. If you're preoccupied anyway, please come to me after class. And tell me, if anyone tries to sell you these lies, immediately. Now, if you would return to page five in your book." She sat down again. The atmosphere however, was still as tense as before. If Cat had hoped that it would be finally over, she lost all hope, when she looked at Harry. He didn't seem very interested in reading as he slowly stood from his chair. The boy beside him, Seamus, looked half frightened, half impressed.

'_He can't be that stupid.'_ The brown-haired guard told herself over and over again, but it wasn't very convincing. She watched Hermione, whispering to her friend, trying to stop him, even going as far as to grab his sleeve, but knew it was futile. The boy was going to get himself deeper into it and there was nothing, anyone could say or do to stopf him. Harry had lost control and was ruled by his emotions right now; the strongest of which was anger.

"So, following your interpretation, Cedric Diggory just fell over dead, yes?" he asked with a shaking voice. The whole class gasped simultaneously for air, because none of them, except for Ron and Hermione, had ever heard Harry speak about Cedric's death. They were watching everything like vultures looked at a corpse.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"It was murder," Harry replied. "Voldemort killed him and you know that." Umbridge looked at him and for a moment, Harry thought she would yell at him, but instead she sweetly asked him to come over to her. Pushing his chair oout of the way, he marched infront of the teacher's desk and took a sealed letter from Umbridge.

"Take this to Professor McGonnagal, my dear."

Harry was about to comply, turning to the door without another word, but Cat had made a step infront of it. Confused, the dark-haired boy looked up into the porcelain mask with the black paints, as if he would find an answer there. Of course, said mask was as expressionless as always, though there seemed to be something menacing about her posture. Harry could do nothing but take a step back from the guard.

"Is there a problem, my dear?" Professor Umbridge asked, and Harry wasn't sure, if she was talking to him or the guard. However, he wasn't allowed to answer, as Cat immediately took a step forward, ushering Harry further back into the classroom. The Boy-Who-Lived followed suit, chancing another confused look at the brown-haired warrior.

"Yes, I fear, there is," Cat finally spoke in her smooth, silky voice, that seemed to have the ability to calm Harry's boiling rage until it was gone completely, leaving only a feeling of being slightly upset about something. Just like a real cat, the guard soothed people's nerves with her calm. "I'm ordered to protect this boy and the class. He's not to leave this room without me, and seeing as the rest of the class will stay here until the end of the period, he isn't going anywhere either. I can't be in both places at once, right?"

Well, wrong actually. She could make a shadow clone, but really, why bother. It was so much easier like this- not to mention more entertaining as it brought new colour to Professor Umbridge's cheeks. It seemed however, Umbridge hadn't learned her lesson the first time- or mabe she'd just forgotten again?! The grey-haired witch draw her wand.

"Stupefy!" she screeched. Some of the students huffed in indignation or screamed a loud "NO!" like Harry, as he ran towards Professor Umbridge to stop her from hurting the guard, but a flash of read light was seen anyway. The red lightening bolt hit Cat square in the chest and she fell to the ground, motionless.

A moment and a puff of the familiar smoke later, all that was lying there was a log.

"What the-?"

"A replacement technique," came Cat's smooth voice from the recess of the window. She was crouching on the glass, looking at the baffled wizards with apparent amusement. Harry could just imagine the sly smirk on her unseen face. "You'll have to do better than that to get an ANBU operative, Toad. Too bad, you won't get another chance."

Following through a few hand signs- Harry noticed, they were completely different from those, he had seen at Grimmauld Place No. 12, when the guards conversed- Cat conjured two heavy, metallic chains, that placed themselves around the Toad-woman in an iron grip. A yelp of surprise and fright could be heard. Umbridge's wand fell to the floor, because of the pressure on her hand and she gave a strangled cry.

'Oh no!' Harry's mind raced back to when Moody told them about ANBU. Was Cat going to kill Umbridge for the stunning spell, the new DADA Professor tried on her? Surely, she wouldn't go killing her over a meaningless little thing like that, the dark-haired boy tried to reassure himself.

"You should know, I've killed for less!" Cat continued, but now her voice was cold like arctic ice floes. "Fortunately for you, I'm under the strict order, not to kill, if not absolutely necessary- but try something like that again and you just might have a lethal accident within the next few hours. And now, sit down. I'll take Potter to Professor McGonnagall as soon as Fox arrives here. I just called him. He should be here any moment." And indeed the blonde guard burst through the door a minute later, giving them a cheery "Hello!" and a friendly wave to his superior. Cat sighed and shook her head, before taking Harry over to the staff room.

33333

That evening, dinner in the Great Hall wasn't an enjoyment for Harry. The message of his loud confrontation with Professor Umbridge had spread out quickly throughout the castle, even for Hogwarts standards. While sitting at the Griffindor table with Ron and Hermione, he could here them whispering around him. Strangely, no one seemed to care, that he was listening in on their conversations. It seemed more like they were purposefully talking loud enough for him to hear, maybe hoping he would throw another fit as in DADA, so they could hear the story from him personally.

"He claims, he saw, how Cedric Diggory was killed…"

"He says, he fought with You-Know-Who…"

"Oh, please…"

"Who's supposed to believe those lies?!"

"Be silent," Deer's lazy voice ordered. "You're making troublesome noise."

"Yeah, shut up. I've a headache from that old fart's voice!" Fox barked at them.

"Now you're being 'troublesome'. Shut up, dobe!" Raven admonished from where he stood near the Slytherin table. The students fell silent as Fox shot his companion a dirty glare- or so they all assumed.

"There's one thing I don't understand," Harry explained his two friends with shaking voice. "Last summer, when Dumbledore told them what happened, everyone seemed to believe him…"

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Harry…," Hermione said grimly as she slammed her fork and knife onto the table, telling them, that they should go. As soon as they stood up, one of the guards- the pink-haired one this time- followed them, grumbling behind her mask. Harry had noticed that there was always a guard around, when he wasn't in the Griffindor common room. They didn't even try to make it look like a coincidence. They just followed him wherever he went. It had just been a day and he didn't have one minute of alone-time anymore. "Look, you appeared on the grass with Cedric's dead body pressed to you… . None of us saw, what happened in the maze… . We had only Dumbledore's word, that You-Know-Who killed Cedric and then fought you."

"And that's the truth!"

"I know, Harry, so please stop snapping at me!" Hermione answered angrily. "I'm just saying, that the truth couldn't really sink in, before the school year ended and everyone returned home, where they read for two months what a crazy, little idiot you are and that Dumbledore is becoming senile."

With every step they took towards the Griffindor common room, Harry felt more and more as if a week had passed by instead of just a day. Hermione told the Fat Lady the password- "Kokoro!"- before she could even open her mouth to ask. With an indignant glance at the bushy-haired girl the portrait swung aside, so they could enter.

"How could Dumbledore allow this old fart into our school?" Hermione threw her anger and frustration at the walls, as soon as they had entered the room. "And she's even teaching during our O.W.L year!"

"Well, we've never had really good teachers in Defence against the Dark Arts, right?" Harry asked, though it sounded more like a statement. "You know, what's happening. Hagrid told us, that nobody wants the position, because everyone thinks, there's a jinx on it."

"Yes, but employing someone that actually refuses to let us hex! Where's the sense in that?"

"And then she even wants us to spy for her. She told us, we should come to her, if we hear someone say, that "You-Know-Who is back, remember?"

"Of course, she wants you to spy for her, but not only about what people say about this Voldemort-guy…" Lynx burst out in a silent, but spiteful tone. Ron and Hermione shivered at the mentioning of his name. "She wants to spy on Hogwarts in it's entirety and of course on Dumbledore himself. She's the right hand of the Minister after all. What did you expect her to have come for? The Minister wants to know what happens behind these walls, obviously! What Dumbledore is 'planning'… Why he is saying that Voldemort is back. The ministry thinks there's a selfish reason behind that."

"Don't say his name." Ron muttered.

Lynx just shrugged.

33333

After acknoledging that Luna Lovegood and Ernie Macmillan believed him, when he said that Voldemort was back, and a quick meal, during which Angelina Johnson yelled at him for having detention during their selection for this season of Quidditch- she earned a short, but very unfriendly bark from the raven-masked guard to "Shut the hell up, woman!"-, in the Great Hall, Harry finally made his way over to Professor Umbridge's office. Lynx was right behind him, patting him on the shoulder before he entered the Toad's office. He had seen this office during every year before her. When Gilderoy Lockhart resided in this room, it had been filled with portraits of him. When Lupin became teacher for DADA, you could meet dark creatures sometimes, when you came to visit him. And when Barty Crouch junior worked within these walls as Moody, there had been many devices to alert him, when someone was plotting in the dark.

Now however, he couldn't recognize the office. On the furniture were lace tablecloths and vases with dry flowers. Every formerly free place on the walls were decorated with porcelain plates with a designed kitten on them. Every single one was wearing a different type of bow around their necks.

It was disgusting.

Harry could hear the guard snort.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," Professor Umbridge greeted him and then fell silent for a moment, so he could answer. Apparently, after her last encounter with one of the guards, she had decided, it would be better to ignore Lynx. The pink-haired woman seemed more than happy to accommodate the Toad.

"Good evening, Professor Umbridge," Harry said stiffly.

"Please, sit down," she said, and indicated a little desk with lacy tablecloth and a chair. Parchment and feather were already there.

"Um, Professor Umbridge..." Harry spoke up, "before we begin, I'd like to ask you a favor. I'm on my house's Quidditch team, and on Friday we'll be holding the selection tryouts. I wanted to ask you, if I could go there, instead of coming here for detention. I could come another day instead." Even before he ended, he knew it was futile.

"Oh, no!" Umbridge chirped. "O, no, no, no. This is your punishment for those disgusting, attention seeking little lies.-" Here another snort from Lynx could be heard. Umbridge stiffened for a moment, but ignored the woman again." And of course a punishment can't go according to the culprit. No, you'll come tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and of course on Friday, too. It will hopefully do you some good, if something precious to you is taken from you for once."

Harry's anger was boiling again. He was telling 'disgusting, attention seeking little lies', hm? Umbridge watched him for a moment, smiling widely as if knowing exactly what was going on in him, and just waiting for him to blow up again. With some effort he turned his gaze away from her, before sinking onto the chair behind his desk. Taking out his feather, he was stopped by Professor Umbridge, telling him, he would use one of her's. After being told to write 'I mustn't tell lies,' he asked her how often, before beginning with his task.

"Oh, as often as it takes for the message to **sink in**," she answered mysteriously.

Sakura didn't like this. She stiffened, when she heard the Toad-woman's words and only tensed more when she saw the effect of this 'special feather' as Umbridge had called it. That was an instrument for torture! Harry was writing his phrases in a dark red ink. Nothing too unusual there, only that the same phrase appeared on his hand in form of cuts; deep into his flesh and sinking deeper. The boy looked up for a moment as if to protest, but decided otherwise. The pink-haired kunoichi felt her chest swell with pride, the boy had some spirit. However, Lynx planned to tell the other about this. Espescially Wolf. This woman was becoming a problem, that would eventually cause them to do something drastic. Yesterdays aggression was proof enough. Kakashi had been furious, when he had heard of what happened. She had to tell him about this. Wolf may be lazy, but he wasn't stupid. He would know what to do.

He was the legendary 'Copy Ninja' and her 'sensei' after all!

"Come here!" Umbridge ordered after a while. Harry stood up and walked over to her. "Hand," she said. He held it out for her and the Toad-woman took it between her's. "I don't seem to have made much progress. Well, we'll just have to try again tommorow evening, wouldn't you say, Mr. Potter? You may go."

Harry left her office without saying a word, rounded a corner and ran into a wall, falling backwards and landing hard on his butt. Had Peeves pulled some trick on him again? When he looked up, he found black boots, a pair of pants in the same colour and a bone-white armor over a black shirt. Not to mention, dark blue hair showing behind or beside the green swirled mask. It hadn't been a wall , Harry had run into. It had been Raven making his rounds to protect the castle.

"Uh… Hi," Harry said dumbly.

"What are you doing here?" Raven asked coldly.

"He had detention!" Lynx answered for him as she came around the corner too. "And it would've been nice, if you had waited for me, since you're not to go anywhere without me right now. I wanted to talk to Umbridge, but you just stormed out the door. Anyway, show me your hand."

"Why?" Harry asked, defiant.

It earned him a smack over the head by Raven.

"If she tells you to, then you just do it!" he barked irritated.

"No, Raven, let him be. I was going to heal him, but if he'd rather walk around with an injured hand, let him! It's his decision to make," Lynx replied in a bitter-sweet voice, before turning to Harry, who found himself to be a complete idiot. Not only had he forgotten that Lynx was some sort of a medi-witch- or more like medi-ninja- but he had although snapped at her for no reason. She was just trying to help him. Dumbledore had hired her, so she was obviously in no way affiliated with Umbridge. That much was obvious, if only in the way Cat had treated the Toad yesterday.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"You better be!" Sakura and Sasuke both huffed, before looking at each other startled. About what, Harry couldn't say. "Give me your hand now," Lynx continued, her own already glowing in a light green. In a second, his skin was smooth again. No scar, no redness. No sign of the injury whatsoever. "There. All good. Now-" She made a series of hand seals. "-we should get you back to your friends." The pink-haired guard waved him goodbye, before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. As the smoke cleared he would find the Griffindor common room full of very stunned students.

33333

"_Thank you,"_ Sakura whispered.

"_Whatever for?"_ Sasuke cleared his throat, trying to fake that nothing happened.

"_For defending me,"_ She giggled at his denial. _"That was very sweet of you."_

"_I didn't- I just…"_ the blue-haired boy tried to explain it away, his mind racing to find an acceptable excuse for his behaviour without betraying his reputation as stoic and emotionless, but failed him. You didn't do that just for a comrade, did you? For a friend, maybe, but there was more to it and both of them knew it. The last Uchiha wasn't going to admit it, however.

That would be like telling Naruto he liked his company:

Not an option!!!

"_It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I understand!"_ she assured him and he was relieved. But that changed when she added her next sentence. _"You can try as you might, you can pretend it never happened, but in the end, we both know it did happen. Therefore-"_ She looked around, if someone was there, watching them. After making sure, no one was there, she took off both their masks. _"-thank you, Sasuke-kun."_

She whispered, before giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

33333

_(Kazekage's Office- Sunagakure)_

The red-head sat in his comfy chair behind his desk, a real mountain of papers piling on it, but Gaara wasn't paying any attention to it. Instead he had opted to turn his seat slightly to the left, so he could look out his window front. Behind the glass the peaceful façade of Sunagakure stood out from the never ending ocean of golden sand and the dark orange colour of sunset. He silently, stoicly appreciated the view. It was almost incredible, how something that looked so beautiful, could actually be so lethal- but thus was the desert!

Gaara sighed.

It wouldn't remain this peaceful for long. War was casting it's ugly shadow over the Shinobi Countries again. Mist and Sound- or what was left of it- had allied themselves in order to destroy a common enemy: Konoha. And it's allies along with it. It wouldn't be long, until the Hokage would call him and the leaders of their other allies to The Hidden Leaf for a war council.

However, Gaara had the intense suspicion, that he would be seeing Tsunade much sooner than that. The Kazekage sighed again, before looking down at the letter in his lap, and then at the unraveled mission scroll on his desk. It had come from Konoha and was the usual information about on-going missions of Leaf Shinobi. This was done to ensure, that allies wouldn't take up missions, that would put them into compromising situations- missions like this letter in his lap was asking for.

An owl had brought it this morning!

Turning to the assembled nins in his office, he instructed them:

"Cage the bird and make it ready for transport. Send my guest to me, and inform the Council that Baki will be in charge of the village, while I'm away."

"_But Kazeka-"_

"_And tell them, that my decisions are not up for discussion."_

"_Yes, Kazekage-sama,"_ The shinobi answered hesitantly.

With a motion of his hand, he sent them away, turning back to the view, he had been admiring before. It was getting darker by the minute. The streets were almost empty. Everyone had returned home to his or her family, or already taken a seat in one of the local bars, and the few, that were still out and about, were all shinobi on duty running errands or generally guarding the city. As he saw the last man escape his vision around a corner, he heard a soft knock on the door, which was soon opened. A figure stepped in, closing the door behind herself. She was wearing civilian clothes as she didn't come here on behalf of a mission, but just to see him. Her dark brown hair was hanging down to her shoulders, untied like it would be, if she'd been training with his brother again. When he looked at her, he could see the worried expression in her eyes- she probably believed he had terrible news from her sister.

Another sigh escaped him.

"_How would you feel about making a visit to your home village, Hanabi?" _

**End of the 6****th**** chapter!**

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, because it will be the last one before my Christmas Break, during which I'll probably not be able to post. I'm at my parent's place and my father has the only computer there, of which he's pretty possesive. I'll try to update, but I won't promise anything, so:**

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,**

**  
Mayet**


	7. Taijutsu

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

A/N: Here we go. Another chapter of my HPNaruto crossover. Experience Hogwarts' Golden Trio's first lesson with Kakashi- among other things. Enjoy.

**Notes:**

"…" **speaking english**

"…" _**speaking japanese**_

'…' **thinking in english**

'…' _**thinking in japanese**_

**Yeah, I made up my mind about that. ;) **

Chapter 7: Taijutsu 

_(Hokage's Office, Konohagakure)_

"_This is bad."_

That, apparently, was the first thing, that came to Tsunade's mind, after she had read the letter the Kazekage had gone out of his way to take it to her personally. Her honey eyes were hard, her hands clenched together, and she was biting her lower lip in frustration. She leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk.

"What to do now?" 

The present weren't sure if she was talking to them or to herself, but considering that the Godaime hadn't looked up at them once, they couldn't be blamed. Hanabi decided, she was better off not saying anything. She was just a chunin after all and pretty sure, Tsunade didn't want to hear anything from her right now. If asked, though, she would be able to give a solution, though. Gaara just waited. He had a set of ideas, what he would do, if this were his men. The weren't, however, so it wasn't in his place to speak, unless directly asked to do so. The third person in the room, however, didn't have such inhibitions. He was fairly sure, the Hokage had talked to herself, hoping to get an inspiration, but cleared his throat to get her attention anyway.

"_Yes?"_ she snapped at him.

"_If I may be so bold-"_

"_You already have been, so just spill it out already!" _the blonde woman hissed at him.

The man sighed. Why had he even agreed to replace the Hokage's secretary during her pregnancy?! He definitely didn't finally take his jounin exams for _**this**_.

"_We could send a team. To gather information on Team Wolf's enemy. It could be a great advantage, if it ever comes to a battle."_

"_Not a bad plan, it has one major error, though. What happens, if this guy wants our shinobi to directly attack the school?"_

"_Im sorry, I didn't think that far."_

"_Obviously,"_ Tsunade huffed, then a moment later, she sighed. _"I'm sorry, Iruka, but since this whole mess joined in with Shizune's pregnancy, I'm completely wasted- I still want to wring Shiranui's neck for this!!!"_

The Academy teacher chuckled, waving it off.

"But what do we do, now? Any ideas?" 

That was Hanabi's cue.

"_We could sent the letter back, telling this Voldemort-guy that we can't spare any shinobi, because of the impending war with the other big Hidden Villages. We could thereby furthermore insinuate, that these ninja are from one of the neutral countries, that won't actively participate in the battles. That way, we ensure- most likely- that he won't go to ask Mist or any of our other big enemies after receiving our refusal."_

"_That's… all a little dubious."_

"_I did say 'most likely'."_

The Hokage clicked her tongue.

"_We'll try it, but I'll still send some back-up. Iruka, get me Bear, Swa-"_

"_Hokage-sama, I'm not ANBU. I don't know who you mean," _Iruka explained patiently to her. _"And even if I did, I don't have access to ANBU HQ."_

"_Oh, fine!"_ Tsunade grumbled. _"Then get me Shiranui, Yamanaka, Sai and Yamato. Tell them to come right away and grab their gear on the way. I don't want any delay, am I understood?"_

"_But-"_

"_No buts. Just get them. I don't care, how!"_

The rookie-jounin rushed out of the office.

"_Oh and, Hanabi…"_ The Godaime addressed the young girl in a sugary sweet voice._"The Hyuuga Elders are getting a little too cocky again. Hinata could need a hand."_

Gaara almost rolled his eyes. He was well aware that the honey-eyed woman was actually talking to him, and why she didn't just say so, was beyond him. It wasn't like he would flip or anything. He had grown quite fond of Hinata, as she was the only one that outright accepted his relationship with her sister without casting him dark glances, when she thought he wasn't looking. And she'd always been very nice to him, anyway, when he visited for diplomatical negotiations. This continuous undermining of her authority by her own family members annoyed him just as much as it angered her, Hanabi or Neji.

Infact, his girlfriend was having another temper tantrum right now.

"_Again?! Will those bastards never learn- sorry for the choice of words, Hokage-sama ("What, I didn't hear anything?")-, those old-fashioned morons, those…"_ Hanabi continued her rant as she was led out the door by the half-smiling Kazekage. He didn't need to stay, Tsunade would tell him later, anyway. And scaring Hanabi's relatives half to death was much funnier anyway.

The Hokage smiled for a moment, reaching for her cup of sake. She was about to take a sip, when four loud 'poofs' startled her and made her spill it on her shirt and pants instead. Growling, she put the now empty cup back onto it's place on her desk. The shinobi infront of her made a hasty step back, raising their hands into the air apologetically. Tsunade 'hmpfed' at them, before starting the briefing.

"_You,"_ she began in an accusatory tone, that made the men and woman gulp, _"are going to England as Team Wolf's back-up. I'll inform Dumbledore__You will, however, not travel to the school, where your comrades and friends are. Instead you'll do information gathering and then use your summons to report back to them. I want you to be as discreet as possible. You will split up into two teams. The first will search through the ministry, because from what I can gather from Wolf's last report- these scrolls are always so damn short- the wizard- politicians are trying something new every day to bring the school under their control. The second team will watch figures called Death Eaters, closely. Lynx sent me a list with names of possible affiliates- good apprentice that she is… I want you to check on them and then you'll sent a message to either Wolf or Cat to inform them about your presence and what-"_

"_To __**either Wolf or Cat**__? What's that supposed to mean?" _Genma asked from behind his Bear-mask.

"Isn't that obvious?" 

"_No,"_ they all chorused.

"_Well, Wolf and Cat are leading the team."_

"_Isn't that just killing the whole purpose of a 'Chain of Command'…somehow?"_ Swan (Ino) spoke up, unsure.

"_Normally, yes, but both are in a fragile emotional state right now."_ Here her eyes began to gleam with mischief as if she was responsible for at least one of their situations. _"And so, as neither is in the state of leading alone, I set them up together. They've worked as equal partners before, so that shouldn't be a prob-"_

"_That was ten years ago!"_ Yamato interjected, adjusting his Lion-mask a litte. In the hurry, he didn't have the time to arrange it properly.

"Grr… When I talk, no one else talks, clear?!" 

Everyone nodded anxiously.

"_They'll get along just fine, I'm sure- which reminds me… It's been over a month and Wolf hasn't even mentioned __**that**__… I better remind him of our last 'conversation'…" _The gleam in her eyes intensified and the ANBU took another step back. Even Sai wasn't emotionless enough, not to be frightened.

'_Whatever this 'conversation' was about, I don't want to be in Hatake's skin right now…'_ Genma thought as Tsunade sent them off to get their ride by transportation circle organized.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**333**

Thanks to the detention with Umbridge, he hadn't had any time to practise for transfiguration, hadn't written one dream into his Dream Diary, didn't paint that wood-like creature and hadn't written any of his essays. Which was why one Harry Potter skipped breakfast the following morning and hastily invented a few dreams for Divination. Surprisingly, he found Ron there to keep him company.

"Why didn't you do that yesterday?" he asked, while his red-haired friend tried hard to find an inspiration, looking all around the Griffidor common room. Ron had been dreaming peacefully when Harry had arrived in the dormitory. He said something about having had "other things to attend to", before he bent over his diary again.

"That's gotta be enough!" he exclaimed only moments later and smashed the little book shut. "I wrote that I dreamed about buying new shoes- she can't make anything strange out of that, can she?"

Harry was of the opinion that Trelawney could read a terrible death out of pretty much anything, but kept quiet while they ran towards the northern tower- Deer was lazily trailing behind them. It seemed the guards had targeted Harry more than any other student, because Lynx had even followed him into the guy's bathroom after she had caught up to him yesterday. But maybe it had just been an error, she did seem a little distracted …

"How was detention with Umbridge? What did you have to do?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, before answering.

"Had to write lines."

"Oh, that's okay, right?" Ron said surprised.

"Hm," was all he got for an answer.

"Hey- I totally forgot- will she let you go on Friday?"

"No," Harry responded.

Ron groaned compassionately.

It became another bad day for Harry. He was the worst in McGonnagall's class, because he'd had no time to practise the charm. He had to sacrifice his lunch break for painting purposes and even better, he got even more homework from McGonnagall, Grubby-Plank and Sinistra, that again he wouldn't be able to do, due to his second evening of detention in Umbridge's office. And to add to the abundance of all this inconveniences, Angelina Johnson confronted him during dinner, telling him that he didn't have the right spirit and that she expected player, that wanted to stay in the team, to put their training infront of anything else!

"I have detention!" he shouted after her as she walked away. "Do you really think, I prefer sitting in a room with a toad over playing Quidditch?!"

"At least you just have to write sentences." Hermione reminded him comfortingly, when Harry glided back down into his seat. "That punishment isn't that bad, really…"

Harry opened his mouth and closed it again. He didn't know, why he couldn't tell Ron and Hermione, what was really happening in Umbridge's office. He only knew, he didn't want to see their shocked faces, because that would make everything just worse. Besides, he felt like it was something between him and Umbridge and no one else and he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of hearing that he had complained about it. It seemed like a very good reason to Harry, though he didn't miss the questioning look he got from Lynx, who would accompany him to Umbridge again.

'Stop! What questioning look? You can't even see her face, man! Get a grip!' he scolded himself, but deep inside he knew, that was exactly what Lynx was doing right now; giving him a questioning- and possibly a little disappointed- gaze. Harry had never seen her eyes, or any part of her face for that matter, but they seemed to pierce right through him, accusing him. Looking utterly disappointed in his lack of… trust ?… in his two friends. The dark-haired boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I can't believe how much homework they gave us!" Ron 's voice got him out of his reverie. He immediately heard Hermione ask him accusingly why he hadn't done any of that yesterday evening. And where had he been anyway? "Oh… I…wanted to take a walk."

It occurred to Harry, that he wasn't the only one hiding something.

333

His second detention was as bad as the first one. The skin on the back of his hand had been completely healed when he had gone to bed the last evening- many thanks to Lynx- and now it was bloody and red again. Harry didn't doubt, that if Lynx wouldn't heal him, the words would be carved forever into his hand by tonight. Nevertheless he payed attention not to show any sign of weakness or give any exclamation of pain infront of the Toad-woman, from the moment he stepped into the office till the second he got out of the room. He didn't say a word in those hours, until finally giving Umbridge's office one last glance for the night and saying no more than "Good evening" and "Good night". He left, closely followed by the pink-haired guard. As soon as they were around the corner, Lynx stopped him to heal his hand, then gave him into the custody of Eagle and wishing them "Fair dreams", before turning around to go into the opposite direction. Eagle gave him a quick onceover, before nodding and guiding him to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Kokoro," Harry mumbled.

The portrait swung open and they stepped inside. The Boy Who Lived thought about doing his homework. He was totally exhausted, but he opened his books anyway to write his essay for Snape. When he was done it was half past two in the morning- and even that only because Eagle had stood behind him and looked over his shoulder. The ANBU guard had taken it upon himself to correct his essay( How did he know so much about potions?) and even given him a few tips on grammar and style. At that point, Eagle admitted he had to leave and do some rounds. Therefore, Harry was left alone to answer McGonnagall's questions and throw together a few things about how to treat those little, wooden beasts right. Afterwards he moved upwards to his dormitory and fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow- his clothes still on.

**33333**

Thursday passed in a fog of sleepiness. Ron too, looked quite dizzy, even so Harry had no idea as to why. They almost fell asleep during their last lesson and would have gone straight to bed, if Ron didn't have homework to do and Harry wouldn't have to got to detention with the Toad again.

"Where are you two going?" Hermione asked them with a raised eyebrow.

"Library," Ron said.

"Detention," Harry mumbled.

"Did you forget? We still have a class," the bushy-haired girl reminded them. The two boys looked bewildered for a moment- astronomy should have been their last class for the day- but then it hit them: The new class! The one they had surprisingly found on their schedule and that Ron hadn't been able to pronounce.

"Is it Thursday already?"

"Hmpf!" Hermione huffed. "Yes, for your information, it is. Come on now- we have to go change."

"Change?" the boys asked.

"Yes, or did you intend to got to a hand-to-hand combat class in your school uniform?" she wanted to know indignantly.

"…er…No," they groaned.

"Then move," Hermione snapped, turning on her heels to walk away.

Harry and Ron stood there another few seconds.

"You know what?!" the raven-haired boy suddenly asked with a mischievious smile. "That means, I don't have to go to detention! And the Toad can't say anything, because it's an official class… Yeah!"

Jumping a little in his step, Harry made his way over to the Griffindor dormitories to change for class. Little did he know, that he would wish his detention back in a few minutes…

**33333**

They met on the field infront of the lake ten minutes later. Fox and Raven were already there waiting for them and when he looked a little more closely, Harry could see Cat sitting in a nearby tree, apparently reading a book from the library. She looked very relaxed, leaning her back to the trunk, one leg drawn up to accommodate the arm holding her book, the other dangling from the side of the tree. She almost looked too casual. Raven leaned against the same tree, but was standing below his teammate on the ground. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked in the direction of the castle, as if he was expecting something to come from there soon. It would have been an almost peaceful picture, if it hadn't been for Fox, who was anything but calm! The blonde guard was pacing infront of the group of students mumbmling incoherently, but definitely angry. He was, of course talking in japanese, so even those, who stood closer to him than Harry, didn't understand a word, but it sounded like a rant…

"_That tardy, old bastard…porn-reading bastard… irresponsible…should've known…been here fifteen minutes ago, but of course…late as ever…stupid, old men…"_ were only a few things, Raven and Cat had to listen to, while their comrade's rage grew bigger still, and though it didn't look like it, their thoughts were mostly going in the same direction.

Cat, however, didn't feel angry about Wolf's lateness anymore. She'd lived with it for years, before she went on that mission. She'd thought that it would irk her, because she hadn't experienced it for a good ten years, but as soon as she'd been back at home, her inner clock seemed to have adjusted to her friend's constant tardiness again. Now, all it was to her, was amusing. It seemed like a part of an old game she'd almost forgotten how to play, though she had loved playing it in the past. It had been one of her favorite pass-times to try and predict just how late Wolf would be on different occasions. At one point she'd been so good at this game, people had asked her to tell them, what time to give him, when they wanted him to come at another. She had always just smiled and told them to give him a time about two or three hours prior to the actual appointment, though she could've been much more precise. It was all a matter of identifying his mood. If you could do that, you could foretell exactly how long he would be at the Memorial Stone or reading his book to push away bad thoughts about his past. Being this good at understanding him, she'd soon grown to be his closest friend and they'd been so ever since then. Therefore she knew that he would make his appearance in about a minute or so. Closing her book, she jumped down from the tree, careful not to land on Raven, who seemed to be very pissed- his hands were clenching and unclenching every few seconds. Activating her Byakugan, she noticed that his eyebrow was twitching dangerously, while he was biting his lip in annoyance. Cat decided it would be better to stay off him and went a few metres away.

"_How long is he gonna make us wait this time?… no sense of appropriateness… of course, he's reading porn… rude to the bone…"_ Fox continued to rant on about his ever-late sensei, when Raven finally snapped.

"_Shut up, dobe, you're annoying."_ That was it. No yelling, no movement, not even an exclamation mark!

But hey, what did you expect? He's Sasuke after all!

"_Don't tell me to shut up, teme. The man is…"_ Fox began to argue, but was interrupted by a puff of smoke.

'_Just as I predicted,'_ Sayuri thought, not without a good ounce of pride.

"You're LATE!" Naruto yelled.

'It just isn't the same, when Sakura isn't there to help him scream at me…' the Copy Nin thought. 

"What excuse do you have this time?" Sasuke asked, only barely containing his anger. Because of this man, he had to endure a whole half an hour of Naruto's ranting, not to mention the bickering conversations of the bored brats. Unbelieveable that this was the man who taught him the Chidori!

And he had been in such a good mood since Monday too…

"I'm here now, am I not?… Sorry, I'm late, I got lost on the road of-"

"Life, we know, we know," Cat joked, but Raven and Fox weren't so amused.

"Road of Life my ass, sensei!" the blonde shouted at him. "You were probably just sitting somewhere, reading your per-" a glare from Cat made him change direction, "-stupid book, admit it!"

"So little faith you have in your old sensei?" Wolf asked melodramatically.

"What little faith we had in you, was destroyed on our first training session, to which you were five hours late- and then you just pulled out that disgusting book and read it right infront of us, when you should've been teaching us!" came the amused voice of Lynx, who walked towards them over the black water of the lake.

The students were stunned.

Wolf's head fell a little.

"Well, since Wolf is here now, we can begin the lesson," Cat announced to them. Lynx sighed deeply and said something about having to meet with Deer to report to him. She also informed the brown-haired guard, that said pineapple-head would come by and give them a summary of everything. He was, it seemed, scouting the Forbidden Forest with Eagle and Pakkun. The students that heard the last name were confused. They remembered only seven guards and five of them were here. That left two more and none of them was called Pakkun! Only Harry, Ron and Hermione understood what Lynx was talking about and more or less understood, when the pink-haired girl asked Wolf if that was okay with him.

"Sure," the man shrugged, seemingly uncaring, but Lynx knew better. He was a little offended, that she didn't inform him before. She shot him an apologetic smile, which he obviously couldn't see, but he seemed to sense it, because he nodded to her and ruffled her hair.

"Stop that! I'm not twelve anymore."

"You'll always be that little girl to me- and besides: Your pink locks just invite people to ruffle them a little." He smirked behind his mask at her annoyed expression, she just knew he was. Huffing, Lynx walked away. "Let's begin now, shall we?! First of all, I'd like you to form groups."

The students immediately went together with whom they liked, but Wolf shook his head.

"No, no. Not like this. Every group will consist of four people, one of each house," he informed the disbelieving students. He had to be joking. After all, there was a deathly feud between Griffindor and Slytherin- and the other two houses didn't like Slytherin either. What was the point of putting them together, when they would undoubtedly malfunction?!

"But, _sir_," Draco spat the word, indicating what he thought of the guards. (Naruto wanted to mutilate the boy immediately, but Sasuke put a hand on his friend's shoulder to calm him- even though, he too wanted to teach that brat a lesson.)

"_He'll learn his lesson, dobe. Wolf will teach him."_ He whispered into the blondes ear. Suddenly Fox stopped trying to wiggle free, a wide, evil grin on his face- or so Raven imagined. He smirked himself. That kid would learn not to mess with Kakashi- and he would learn it the hard way!

"You can't… That would mean, that there would be a Griffindor and a Slytherin in one and the same group!" Malfoy cried indignatly.

"Brilliant conclusion, kid!" Wolf cheered. "I can't understand why you haven't quit school yet- and freed us of your presence here." Malfoy's face went beet-red. Some snickered at this. Harry was one of them. Listening to Wolf brushing off a Malfoy was almost a remedy for having to work with a Slytherin- almost! "Now, if you're done with complaining like a group of whining sissies, we can go on. Once you're in a group, you'll stay in that group for the rest of the year- with a few exceptions, but about that another time. You'll be a team and solve your tasks as such. And your first task is: To get one of these bells from me,Cat, Raven, or Fox."

He put a hand into his pocket and when it slid out again, there was a soft jingling sound. Three silver bells hang from his fingers. Behind him, Cat and the others had done the same. Wolf was deliberately shaking them a little to fill the stunned silence on the field with their sweet melody.

Too sweet to be innocent.

"You may use every dirty trick you know. As long as you get the bells, it's fine. You may also use any of the following for your purpose-" He took a scroll and with a puff of smoke a whole mountain of weapons appeared infront of them. He held the opened scroll so that the side, where the words were written on, faced down and patted the backside of the scroll a little. After a moment a few more weapons fell out it. "You may use any weapon, wire, explosive tag or poison you find here- the poisons are non-lethal by the way- but be aware that you have to get the bell with your hands."

"And that means…" the class asked concerned.

"No wands."

"WHAT?" they shouted. "But, that's… we're wizards… you can't…"

"I just did. And it's _because_ you're wizards that I banish your wands. You wizards are too dependent on it. If someone disarms you, you're helpless like a newborn baby. I'm trying to make that change. In order for you to accomplish that, there are a few things you'll have to learn. The first step, is to achieve something without using your little stick- sorry, _wand_. After that, I can really start to teach you. Therefore, whomever doesn't pass the Bell Test today, will come back Saturday and then Sunday and every weekend after that until he does pass, am I understood?"

The students grumbled.

"Very well. If there aren't anymore questions… Yes, Hermione- oh, I almost forgot to tell you: Don't expect me to call you Mr. or Ms., because I won't. To me, you're just kids and I won't address kids like adults, unless you show me that you deserve to be considered an adult. So, what is it, Hermione?"

"Um… well, Sir…there are only three bells."

"Yes, so?"

Sayuri, Naruto and Sasuke grinned. This was going to be funny.

"We're four people…"

"Yes, so?"

"There's one bell less than… well, us."

"Let me repeat that: Yes, so?"

"Um… someone will fail the test anyway."

"Yes, exactly," Wolf cheered.

"What?!" Ron shouted. "How is that fair?"

"It isn't," Cat replied.

"No one said, it would be," Raven added.

"Life is never fair, anyway," Fox grumbled.

The students growled.

"Let's begin."

**33333**

The forest was a very quiet place, Neji realized as soon as he had sat food into it. Once he, Shikamaru and Pakkun had trespassed it's borders, they were surrounded by complete silence. It seemed like the light mist that was floating between the trees, had sucked all of the outside noises out of the air. And the forest itself apparently didn't make any noises. Not even a bird was singing and it was still early afternoon- nowhere near dusk. Now Neji understood, why Dumbledore had insisted on them going at least in a group of two into the forest, since it was their first time.

They walked on for a while. Climbing over raised roots and fallen branches or trunks, sometimes even cutting their way through the bushes with their katana or simply jumping onto a branch and proceeding by tree-hopping. They didn't do the latter often though, as they wanted to get a good idea on the ground of the forest, since wizards weren't able to tree-hop- at least so they were told by Dumbledore. And it didn't surprise them. Every wizard they had seen up until now was either skinny or fat or looked weak in any other way, shape or form. None of them had been properly trained. The ANBU doubted that wizards even knew what real sport looked like! All they had was this Quidditch thing, where they most strenous task of the player's was to hold onto their broom.

It was ridiculous!

After a while they entered an even darker part of the Frobidden Forest, and everything became, if that was even possible, quieter still. Now, not even their steps cut through the thick silence between the trees. The ANBU and the summon had purposefully made noises in order to at least hear something. They weren't strangers to complete silence, welcomed it even, but the silence in this forest was just to uncomfortable, too… menacing. Besides, they had wanted to attract the wildlife, no matter how dangerous Dumbledore had warned them it would be. They wanted to know just how dangerous the beasts of this place were, in order to see if it was a possible route for the Death Eaters to invade the school.

So far, they hadn't found anything.

"This is weird," he told the others.

"This is troublesome," Shikamaru clarified. Neji sent him a glare.

"Very much so," Pakkun grumbled, then sniffed the air. Something was setting him off. It was just too quiet, but not only that. It was as if there was something watching them, but he couldn't smell anything. It was like a presence in the air and he knew it was there, but couldn't find it, couldn't indicate where it was or where it was going to be next. And that set him off.

He was a summon. A spirit entity, if you will. He wasn't anywhere near being a normal, mortal dog. Hell, he'd been around for longer than Kakashi and his team lived- put together! And he would be around for much, much longer than any of them or even their memory. When no one will remember these kids anymore, to him it will seem like just a day had passed since they had lived all their adventures together. With so much real life experience and centuries of training his senses, he should be able to detect pretty much anything, but alas, this was different. His senses were keener than any human's, including Kakashi's, and he had been in the magical countries before and was not unknowm to magic and the multitude of it's possible appereances… but he just couldn't make out what set him off!

He just knew, that something wasn't right.

A forest without any sounds didn't exist. Something was off here, very off.

"Take a look with your Byakugan, Eagle. Maybe that will tell us more," Shikamaru suggested, still using Neji's code name even though, they were obviously very much alone. Better to be on the safe side, though. The long-haired ANBU nodded quietly, only a whisper of _"Byakugan!"_ disrupting the silence that ensued between the three of them and the forest afterwards.

They had halted all movements in order not to distract the young Hyuuga genius. Of course, the boy would be able to concentrate even with Naruto dancing the Salsa right infront of him- he wasn't called a genius for nothing, after all-, but, as stated before, they liked to stay on the safe side. They were ANBU. Neji stood perfectly still, while looking around the forest. He didn't have to move either, because his Byakugan gave him an almost 360-degree field of vision, and to see what he missed through his blind spot, he just needed to turn his head just slightly. When the Eagle-masked boy suddenly stiffened, Pakkun knew his eyes had found, what his ears and nose couldn't.

"Don't. Move."The brown-haired ANBU told his comrades. Immediately, they stiffened, readying their muscles to fight or run away, whatever their expedition leader thought wiser in this case. After another minute of complete and utter silence a loud thump could be heard, then another… and another… and then the non-Hyuugas realized.

They were steps.

333

An hour later sixteen teams had tried to get at least one of those stupid bells, but neither Wolf, nor his comrades, had shown any kind of weakness to their attacks. They had blocked each and every attack the students launched at them, they had caught the shuriken and kunai that flew at them out of the air, and just danced through all the wires, drenched in poison or with the explosive tags attached to them. At the beginning of the test, the Hogwarts students had been hesitant about using any kind of weapon on their guards, but they had quickly changed their minds after seeing that the guards held no such inhibitions towards them. Bloodied and bruised, Harry and Hermione let themselves fall into the grass. Their two teams had tried to work together on an attack, but it had ended in nothing, if not the triumph of having at least touched the bell jingling at Wolf's hip once- with the tip of Hermione's finger.

"I'm sorry," she panted.

"It's not your fault. They're just too good for us."

"Yeah, now I know what they meant, when they said "helpless like newborn babies"- why they think of us as weak. They're right, you know. Wizards tend to depend very much on their wands, and only a few of them do sports."

"No wonder they're slaying us!" Ron coughed up a few drops of blood as he sat into the grass beside his friends. He looked pale and had scrapes and bruises all over his face. Harry almost pitied him. Ron's team had to take Raven on and the dark-haired guard was anything but soft with them. Harry had noticed the difference in the ways the guards fought. While Raven didn't show any mercy to them, Fox tried to avoid every physical contact in order not to have to hurt them. Wolf pretty much ignored them completely, reading the book Cat had brought with her, while fighting them. The only woman teaching them had the strangest fighting style out of all of them. Harry, being raised in the muggle-world, had seen a few Martial Arts movies, but never had he heard of a style were you fought with your palms.

"Okay, that's enough for today," Cat's soothing voice floated to their ears. "If you wish for healing after the lesson is dismissed, you may come to me. But before that, we'll tell you who passed the test. Anyone that doesn't hear their name in a few seconds, will meet us here on Saturday, understood? Now, let's do this…

Passed:

Boot, Terry

Brown, Lavender

Granger, Hermione

Longbottom, Neville

Macmillan, Ernie

Patil, Padma

Patil, Parvati

Potter, Harry

Thomas, Dean

As for the rest of you, please meet us here on Saturday at 8 am."

Ron groaned. His name hadn't been on the list, but he knew better than to protest. Someone else on the other hand just didn't know what was good for him…

"Why did they pass, they didn't get a bell!" Malfoy protested. "None of the Slytherin passed."

"Then maybe these kids have something you guys don't," Wold declared. "Now, you may-" He was interrupted when a messenger hawk landed on Raven's arm. Wolf took the two scrolls out of the envelop and looked at them strangely. He opened the first-

-and found himself enveloped by it in a second. A strange hissing sound came from it and vapour lifted from where the parchment touched his armor or skin. Soon, blood was spilling out in between the man and it's attacker. Wolf had fallen to his knees and was struggling to come free. The students were too shocked about the sudden attack to do anything. Suddenly Harry jumped for his wand, which he had left on the ground, but Cat appeared beside him and stopped him, before he could cast a spell.

She shook her head at him.

"So, you're gonna do nothing?! He's your teammate!"

"He's not in any kind of danger," her silky voice soothed him again, but Harry didn't want that.

"He's being eaten alive by a scroll! How can you say, he's in no danger?"

"Because it isn't him," she answered, her voice betraying her gentle smile. "Look!"

He did as he was told. And indeed, just a second and a 'poof' of smoke later, Wolf had transformed into a log, just like Cat had done when Umbridge tried to stun her. The real Wolf was currently strolling towards the log. He took a deep breath, two fingers infront of his mouth and when he let his lungs relax again, he was breathing fire, burning both the scroll and the log in a giant fireball.

"Your family really doesn't like me, hm?"

"Maybe it was meant for Eagle…" Cat suggested.

"No, it was my name on the envelop. It's definitely me, they don't like."

"Well, I didn't like you very much either, when we first met- but I always knew you would make a great lo- friend, once you'd let someone get behind your shell!" Cat added at seeing his crest-fallen slouch and laughed. "Well, what's in the second envelop?"

"I'm not sure I want to know…" Wolf grumbled, but opened it anyway. To everyone's relief it didn't try to eat him, but it made him angry, that much was clear when he threw it into the air and blew it up with an explosive tag a moment later. The students and even the guards were frozen in place, when Wolf announced them to be "Dismissed!" and stalked off furiously, almost knocking Deer out as he came towards them. Bewildered, the pineapple-headed teen stopped in his tracks for a moment to watch his superior walk away.

"Dobe?" Raven's voice resounded over the silent field.

"Yeah?"

"Did he just use a _Katon no jutsu_ without making any handseals?"

"Yeah."

"…"

"Teme?" Fox aked.

"Yeah?" Raven asked back.

"Is he angry?"

"Yeah."

"Damn."

"No, worse than that," Cat spoke up again.

Everyone looked at her.

"He has never been like this before… Angry."

"What do you mean?" Deer wanted to know.

"I've seen Wolf in a bad mood, annoyed, ferocious even. But I've never seen him angry and I don't know about you, but it scares the hell out of me!" she explained.

Everyone gulped.

"I'd better go looking after him. Maybe I can find out the reason why he's acting so strangely. Deer, you discuss with Raven and Fox, whatever it was, that you wanted to tell us. You can tell me later okay?" she said, but didn't wait for an answer as she started running after her comrade.

"Uhm… yeah…"

Suddenly all attention was on him and he shifted uncomfortably, knowing what kind of impression he must be giving right now: Pants and gloves torn, his hair down and disheveled, a long, bloody scrape over his left arm and shoulder and another three over both his legs, one even going up to his hip.

**End of the seventh chapter!**

**A/N: I know this is shorter than the others, but I wanted to put it into an own chapter what happens next. I hope you liked it anyway and thank you for understanding, please leave a review.**


	8. First of what's to come

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait! On the bright side: The chapter is beta-ed. Many thanks to Lupanari-san!**

**Chapter 8: First of what's to come…**

They landed swiftly on the hard street, light streaks of mist floating just above the ground, even though it was already afternoon. It had taken quite some time to gather enough jounin with the needed knowledge and chakra reserves to carry out the jutsu for a transportation circle that was strong enough to send them over half the planet. Which was probably even a good thing, since Tsunade had had some extra-time to inform this Dumbledore…

"_Finally," _Swan muttered darkly,_ "that was one hell of a rough ride."_

"_Agreed," _Sai replied, smoothly

"_Come on, we are supposed to live with these people for a while, so we have to meet them. And it would probably make a better impression, if we were on time-"_

"_On time for what, Bear?!?" _Swan shouted at him._ "We never gave them any precise time. I doubt, they even know we're coming at all."_

"_Then, what, do you say, is that chubby woman doing out on the street, waving us over like a mad-man?" _the brown-haired man with the oral fixation bit back. Looking up, his teammates, too, noticed the rather eccentric woman. She was obviously a housewife, but her clothes looked like they came from some other century…

"_I guess…," _the blonde woman admitted, as they started walking over. The read-haired woman gave them a once-over, then looked left and right, if someone had seen them in their strange outfits and then motioned for them to follow her.

_  
_"I'm Molly Weasley and the Order's HQ is at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place," read the note said woman gave them.When they had read it, they suddenly saw the Numbers Eleven and Thirteen glide aside to make place for another house in their middle: Number Twelve. It looked old, older than the other buildingsand much more run-down. That this house was still standing seemed to be a miracle itself.

Inside it looked even shabbier than the outside would make you guess, but it did hold some odd form of homely aura, making the ANBU wonder, if it was a spell or their standards had been lowered so much during their service in the special corps. Quickly, they dismissed their thoughts, introducing themselves to the residing witches and wizards that stood up to- rather awkwardly- welcome them, when they entered the kitchen.

"Yes, yes," an older man with only half a nose replied immediately, "Dumbledore has just informed us about your arrival. He also said, you would stay here, is that correct?"

"Yes," Lion replied calmly.

The magic-users shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, though," he added, "you won't see much of us, as we'll be out most of the time. Sometimes even staying away for a few nights. So, we won't bother you too much."

At this, the wizards let out relieved sighs.

"In fact, if you have some provisions for us, we'll be out the door as soon as we are done discussing the last few things," Bear told them, chuckling. It wasn't the most polite thing that the wizards were doing, but he couldn't blame them- not with having had to put up with Hatake and his interesting, but slightly dysfunctional team before.

"Oh…Yes, of course," Mrs. Weasley replied, rushing through the kitchen.

Turning to his team, Bear was about to give them the last few orders, before they split up, but Lion beat him to it.

_"Don't give yourselves away. Don't confront anyone, if not necessary. We'll split up and gather the needed information, then we'll meet back here for briefing, before informing our comrades at the castle, understood?"_ He didn't wait for an answer, though. _"Good. Swan, Squirrel, you'll look for anything you can find about this Voldemort and his Death-Eater- guys, while Bear and I will check up on the ministry and wizarding culture in general, okay?!?"_

The two younger ones nodded swiftly, packing some food Mrs. Weasley had floating towards them and disappeared.

_"What the hell?!?"_ Bear cursed. _"What was that all about? We're two ANBU Captains. One of us was to go with each, Lion, and you knew that. That was the plan."_

"_Are you really that much in love with the Hokage's assistant, that you don't notice it anymore, when you see it someplace else? The girl is totally nuts about our young Root agent,"_ the other chuckled, _"and besides, it's not like it's very dangerous, anyway."_

3333

(Hogwarts some time prior / Flashback)

"Don't. Move,"_ the brown-haired ANBU told his comrades. Immediately, they stiffened, readying their muscles to fight or run away, whatever their expedition leader thought wiser in this case. After another minute of complete and utter silence a loud thump could be heard, then another… and another… and then the non-Hyuugas realized._

_They were steps._

'What the hell?'_ was the first thought that crossed Pakkun's mind. _'If this thing can make steps like any other being, then why didn't I smell it? This is too weird. There has to be something about this forest that is disturbing my senses… Damn! Judging by the sounds this thing makes, it has to be pretty big.'

"Troublesome. What is it?" _Shikamaru wanted to know, but Neji seemed to wrapped up in his own thoughts to answer. The brown-haired ANBU was still holding a finger infront of his mouth, his other hand gesturing for them to stay back. He was probably looking intently at whatever creature was moving towards them, trying to decide whether it was safe to stay or better to run. Since he didn't move, Shikamaru concluded that he was most likely uncertain how to take what he saw. The pine-apple-head became intrigued. What could possibly bind the Hyuuga genius' attention like that. For a moment he wished, he could see through Neji's eyes, but quickly dismissed that thought._

_The thumps had gotten louder, he would see soon anyway…_

"Retreat into the shadows," _came Neji's order suddenly in a hushed voice, _"and be as quiet as possible. I don't think they've noticed us yet and we want to leave it that way, understood?"

_The other two nodded. _

Retracing their steps, they merged with the shadow under a tree, pressed closely to it's trunk. Close enough to smell the musty wood. They didn't say a word, didn't make any movements, didn't even dare breath normally. Concerned, all three of them looked at the hollow, where the steps were still coming from. As they watched, their heartbeats accelerated, adrenalin rushing through their veins. Seconds ticked by like hours, while they remained in their places, crouched into the darkness, their bodies melded against the tree. Then finally something came into view: 

_It was a leg._

_A very dark, very hairy leg._

_Then there was another one. And another. And some more. Soon a massive body came into view, separated into two sections- a head and a behind- four pairs of legs parting from it. On the head, Shikamaru could see a few button-like looking eyes, that seemed to search every inch of the clearing._

_It was a spider._

_And a damn big one at that. Pakkun looked at the creature, torn between being fascinated with it's mere existence and being disgusted at it's appearence. He didn't like spiders. Gods forbid, he wasn't afraid of them, but he just couldn't stand them. They had bulky bodies and eight long, hairy legs, not to mention at least five eyes. They were covered in fur, but it was bristly and scratchy, bah! That alone was reason enough why he didn't like those beasts. Taking a sniff he suddenly realized, why he hadn't been able to make out the creature before: It smelled exactly like the forest- or rather, this part of the forest had adopted the scent of the spider._

'But if the forest smells like spiders, then…' _Pakkun tensed. _'Oh no! Please, no!' _He stole a glance at Neji and the Hyuuga nodded almost imperceptibly as if he had read the pug's thought. Well, it probably wasn't very difficult to read them from the shocked and disgusted expression on his face! A glance at Shikamaru's stiff posture told him that the strategist had come to the same conclusion as the hound, and seemed just as unhappy about it. Knowing in which direction Deer's thoughts must be going, Pakkun had to agree mentally:_ 'This is gonna be so troublesome.'

_Just as he thought it, there came forth another giant spider. Three more soon followed, gliding down from the trees at the other end of the clearing. It was getting a little too crowded for the ANBU's liking, so they decided in unision and without so much as a word to make a beeline_ _for the presumed exit. Neji silently gave Shikamaru and Pakkun the okay to sneak away on soundless soles. He would go first, seeing as he was the only one to know, before they ran in to one of those animals, always watching their retrat with his all-seeing eyes. Thinking about this, suddenly made both other teammembers very happy, that it was Neji to accompany them and not Naruto, who had volunteered. _

_Fortunately, Kakashi had dissuaded him to do so, giving him the opportunity to partake in the bell test for the wizards instead._

_Silently, watching out for every step, they made their way back from where they came from. It wasn't that bad, it wasn't as if they failed their task. They already knew enough of the forest to know why wizards were so reluctant to go in there. It was unlikely that Voldemeort would chose that way. Dumbledore told them what kind of creatures inhabited the Forbidden Forest and the guards had to agree, that for wizards it had to be very dangerous. This whole task was just to see it for themselves and maybe decide, if it was an appropiate training ground for them, so as not to bag the school grounds for it. So instead of just avoiding the spiders and continue into the forest, they would head back to the castle, grab something to eat, report to the others and then get some well-deserved rest._

_Wolf and Cat had nightshift after all!_

_Being lost in his own thoughts about some tasty roast and a comfy place at the fire, Pakkun forgot to look where he put his foot and soon a crack filled the silence- he had stepped on a twig. Turning around Neji and Shikamaru glared at him in annoyance. The pug shrugged and rubbed the back of his head as apology. However, that didn't change that the spiders were closing in on them. Apparently they had heard the breaking noise too. Gulping down any anger or fear, the ANBU and the hound proceeded to stand completely still again, until the spiders would give up, pass them by or find them._

_It wasn't long before one of those giant, disgusting beasts appeared at their side, looking around in a frenzy. It didn't seem to notice them, because they had shrunken back into the shades again, but then it sniffed into the air. When it let go of the breath again, the three comrades were about ready to gag: The creature's bad breath smelled like some rotting corpse with a whiff of decayed eggs…_

'This is way too troublesome,' _Shikamaru thought, trying to concentrate on something- anything- else, than the stinking animal infront of him. Everyone had to hold in a sigh of relief, when the spider decided to go on, searching for them in some other place. Feeling safe to move again, the guards and the pug started their hike back home. They would definitely change to tree-hop once they were out of ear-shot of those spiders. They knew, they needed a bath._

_Unfortunately, that would have to wait, seeing as someone called for them just that exact moment:_

"Oh, hey Eagle, Deer Pakkun. I was looking for you!" _Lynx approached them unconcerned from the side. Of course, from her position, she couldn't see the giant spiders on the clearing, that definitely heard her call them. Infact, when the ANBU turned around, panicked, the hairy beasts were making their way over to them rather hastily. Seeing them look over their shoulders, Lynx raised on her tip-toes to see, what was making them so nervous._ "What is it with you…?… Iiek!"

"Prepare for battle!" _Eagle yelled over the pink-haired girl's shriek._

_They didn't have to be told twice. Deer took out a few kunai, holding them between his fingers. Attached to them with a tiny string were red notes. On the notes had been written japanese symbols, in a way so they would amount to a complicated pattern. He threw two of those kunai at the first spider that came into his reach- you could never be sure enough, when it came to giant beasts! The notes exploded upon hitting their target and even though not dead, the spider was severly wounded. It wouldn't be able to continue fighting. Deer tried the same with the next spider, but seeing what his knifes had done to it's friend, it had obviously learned. So the spider shot a sticky substance at the two throwing devices and had them blow up long before it would reach them._

'Damn!' _Deer thought._ 'Can't it be easy for once?!…Troublesome.'

_The spider was moving towards him fast. He knew he wouldn't have the time to perform his shadow jutsu, so instead he opted to throw another kunai, but in an completely different direction as before. The spider didn't do anything about that kunai, apparently guessing it was no danger, seeing as it was flying someplace else. A moment later a cry of pain could be heard as one of the trees hit the creature directly on the back. Reacting quickly, Deer put away his other explosive tags and draw out his sword to cut the spiders head off._

_Meanwhile Eagle had put an end to another two of those animals by first crouching into the Hyuuga fighting stance and then using his __**Juuken**__to eliminate his opponents. Half a minute later he was looking over to Sakura, who seemed to be undecided on whether to fight the disgusting beings, or to give in to her littel-girl-instincts and run away, hiding behind one of her male comrades and crying_ "Make it dead! Make it dead!"_…_

"Girls!" _Eagle huffed, reading her body-language well._

_The pink-haired guard had heard him (Neji flinched) and snorted angrily. Seemingly coming to a decision, because of her captain's "condescending comment", she channeled her chakra into her right fist and made a jump for it- literally. Landing on top of the spiders back, where it couldn't reach her, she punched the creatures head so hard it got completely squeezed. Body fluids and some other things- was that a piece of it's brain?- spilled out of the dead body._

_Eagle would've "iieked", if he were anybody else._

"Done!" _Lynx cheered._

"Not really!" _Pakkun spoke up, indicating to the clearing with one of his paws._

_There were more of the spiders._

_Hundreds more- and all closing in on them..._

"Shit!" _the female guard sweared rather unladylike._

"Come on. Let's do this!"_ Eagle said in his stoic voice. "The sooner we're done, the sooner we can get home." Moving to stand in the middle of the clearing, he crouched into another Hyuuga fighting stance, that was typical for him, as he had invented it. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he closed his eyes. He didn't need to keep them open to see. His __**Byakugan **__would just see through his eyelids. _

"_**Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō!"**_ **Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)**

_Quickly disposing of whatever enemy was nearest to him, Eagle started to reach for those more distant. He found pride in needing only one touch, one slightest brush to block any further movements of his enemy or even make them go into cardiac arrest. But he had every right to be proud: He'd trained long and hard to achieve this capacity._

_Deer and Lynx weren't just enjoying the show either._

_The pine-apple-head went through a few quick handseals. Afterwards he enlarged his shadow, using all the shades of the trees on the ground, thereby holding at bay whatever spider slipped through Eagle's first line of defence- even a Hyuuga couldn't cover all the ground alone. The spiders Deer was holding firm in place, Lynx hastily, but thoroughly killed off with her katana. Pakkun stayed always by her side, in case there was a spider somewhere, that wasn't in Deer's grip or lying on the ground after Eagle's attack. Once or twice he had to bite into a disguting leg, before the pink-haired woman noticed her attacker. It was disgusting, but he did it willingly in order to save the young ANBU, whom he had taken a liking to throughout the years. _

_Not to mention, she had promised him dog biscuits._

**3333 **

"A few of them got to me, but nothing too troublesome happened. And when everything was over, Eagle and Lynx went to the castle, leaving me with the troublesome duty to inform you of what had transpired," Deer finished his report with a desperate sigh. He just wanted to sink onto his pillow and put it all behind him.

Fox and Raven nodded. They weren't surprised that it was Deer who came to tell them as Eagle is his superior and Lynx… well, the pink-haired woman could be very insistent and "persuading", when it came to her wish to take a shower. They couldn't blame their pineapple-headed friend to have given in. Any of them would have.

After all, none of them wanted to meet Lynx anger.

"Pakkun is on his way to report to Wolf," Deer added.

The other two guards exchanged glances.

"I'm not sure, if that's a good idea," Raven finally spoke up. "You've seen how he is at the moment."

"Yeah!" Fox added, an obvious grin in his voice. "I wouldn't want to get too close to him right now. Whatever was in that scroll really angered him. He's not acting like himself at the moment, and I wouldn't put it past him to lash out at anything near him. I just hope Cat knows what she's doing."

"I'm sure he would never hurt her," Deer brushed it off. "Anyway, if you don't need me, I'm going to go take a shower now too, then I'll hopefully get myself patched up by Lynx and after that I'll just eat something and go to sleep. I'm dead tired." Waiting for a few seconds to give them time to respond, he stretched a little to accommodate his aching muscles.

"No, it's okay. We've got everything under control. Raven and I will make our rounds through the castle, take the brats to their dormitories after dinner and then we, too, will kiss our pillow."

"Okay, but come in quietly. It's too troublesome to try to get back to sleep once someone woke you up in the middle of the night. And if you happen to bicker on your way back to our dormitories, just stay out and go camping in the forest. Otherwise I couldn't guarantee your safety: Since this spider thing, Lynx isn't exactly in the best of moods either. Very similar to Wolf actually."

Fox and Raven glared.

Deer just shrugged and 'poofed' away.

The blonde and the blue-haired boy glared for another minute at the spot where their friend had just been, then they sighed and turned around… only to be met by a bunch of open-mouthed students. The witches and wizards had listened to every word of Deer's report and they were still baffled. The guards went into the forbidden forest, met the giant spiders in there(and only Harry and Ron knew exactly how terrible those were) and came back out alive with no more than a few bloody scratches?!?!

Were these people even human?

"Blimey…" Ron whispered.

Harry nodded.

Lavender Brown just wanted to ask something, when Raven beat her to it.

"What are you all still doing here?!" he barked at them. "You heard Wolf, you're dismissed for today. Now move it!"

And the students did. Or rather tried to, but stopped again, when they saw Professor Umbridge walking towards them hastily. Her whole body-language screamed anger. The students shied away, when she shouted out a "Potter!". The Boy-Who-Lived ground his teeth together, closing his eyes for a moment at the screechy voice.

"Potter!" Umbridge called again. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you show up for detention?… Trying to escape the punishment, I see! Very well, that makes another week of detention."

"But Professor-" Harry started.

"Oh no! Don't try excuses with me now. I know your kind. Another week, Potter, should teach you to take this seriously and-"

"Actually, he does have an excuse. He had classes!" Fox huffed, stepping between the Professor and the raven-haired boy. "Wolf is teaching your students Taijutsu. Harry had to be present, and it wasn't his fault that he couldn't come to his detention with you. You should've postponed it, seeing as you must have known of this class- it's in the schedule. Therefore I must conclude that you were just looking for a reason to give him another week of undeserved detention. In that case, you might want to discuss that with Cat."

Adding a sly smile to his words as he noticed the Toad-woman visibly flinch at the mention of the Hyuuga-woman's codename, Fox turned around to face the students and usher them back to the castle. Meanwhile Raven was a little surprised beneath his mask at how many words Naruto knew…

**333333**

She found Kakashi in his room, sitting on his bed, glaring at the ceiling. His Wolf-mask had been disregarded, apparently thrown across the room, when he entered through the door. Fortunately a jutsu was put on ANBU-masks, that made them almost indistructible, so the fine porcelain didn't even get a scratch from it's owner's rough behaviour. However, his second mask was still perfectly in place.

As she stepped into the room, Kakashi looked up, about ready to tell whomever had disturbed him to "piss off", when he noticed who had followed him from the training field. Sayuri lifted her mask, showing him the gentle, grateful smile on her face. She must've known what he had been about to do, and was thankful he had reconsidered. Kakashi smiled a little himself. She had always been the one, who could read him best- mask or no mask.

"I thought, you might need some company?" The long-haired woman announced silently, a questioning look in her eyes. He knew if he said he was fine, she would leave him alone without another word and patiently wait until he was ready to admit that indeed he wasn't fine at all. Her pearl-white eyes were still looking at him in concern, when he scooted over to where his pillow laid and patted the spot beside him. Just like she could read him, he could always tell what she was looking at, even though most people had quite a problem when it came to that, because her eyes were almost completely white. When she had sat down, he moved in order to look at her straight. Leaning back against the wall at the head of his bed, he scrutinized her for a moment. Her posture was lax, her eyes now closed as she waited for him to speak. She did it out of courtesy and respect for his privacy, since she could read people so well with those eyes of her's.

"You want to know what happened," he opened up their conversation, giving her the cue to open her eyes again. He locked gazes with her, for a moment transfixed with all the emotions showing in her pale gaze. She didn't hide her feelings and her concern with him. They were too close, it would be inappropiate.

"Only, if you want to tell me," Sayuri answered him calmly. She was leaving the choice to him and normally, he would really appreciate that, but… But right now, he wished that she would push him, squeeze it out of him, because he knew, it was the only way he would get it off his mind- and heart- anytime soon.

"That scroll was from Tsunade…" he said shakingly.

"Was it something about the mission?" the Hyuuga asked, already knowing that the answer would be a flat-out "no". If it had been something about their stay in Hogwarts, he wouldn't feel so awkward about telling her and even if it was, he wouldn't hold back any information that could be essential for the outcome of their assignment.

"No, it was more of… a personal request…or two"

Suddenly Sayuri raised an eyebrow. She couldn't stop the reaction. What kind of a personal request could the Hokage make him, that got him so angry. She always knew him as someone who would keep his cool even on the battlefield with enemies closing in. This behaviour was far from normal for him- especially if it was just because of a "request".

Seeing her musings, Kakashi almost chuckled. Sayuri was very good at analysing situations and body-language, but she would never figure out, what the request of the Lady Hokage contained. Simply because it was so bizarre, it would never even cross her mind in her darkest hours. Though, he had to admit, it did make kind of sense from the Hokage's point of view…

"It…" he spoke up again, but faltered after that single word. So he tried again. "She wants me… I… It's not even that crazy, that I can't understand her reasoning. It does make sense in a certain way… She wants me to… She says it's time to… Oh, damnit! I just can't it bring over my lips!"

He gave up, frustrated.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. You're my best friend, Sayuri. We're closer than… siblings… and I care about you- a lot. I shouldn't keep this from you. I should be able to tell you about my problems, especially when they'll turn your life upside down, too. God, I'm acting like a little boy!"

"I said, it's okay," she repeated, cupping his cheek. "I understand. Whatever that scroll said, it was rather apparent, that it really got you all riled up and you're not ready to talk about it, yet. I understand. I understand, because I'm in the same situation… You gave me space, when we came back, you never pushed me into telling you what happened in those ten years and you waited, patiently. Until now. I'm not ready to talk either. With Ibiki-san… It was difficult, but still a lot easier than speaking up about it around you. It's been a year and I still haven't told you-"

"You don't have too-"

"I know. Neither do you," Sayuri smiled, before giving him a peck on his forehead. "Just tell me, you aren't ill or on the verge of death, please."

"I promise, it has nothing to do with that," he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Good," she stood up and turned to the door, "but remember: When you'll be ready, I'll be there to listen. Okay?"

"Sure."

"See you at dinner then. And don't forget that we have nightshift."

Kakashi groaned.

Smiling for him one last time, she put her mask back into place, before walking out the door, just as Pakkun slipped into the room.

Kakashi groaned again.

**33333333333**

In the next few days, everything became a routine for the Hogwarts' students and guards. The ANBU would accompany Harry and his class everywhere, stay in the class-room, listening to all the teachers- except for Umbridge, who they tried to ignore as much as possible. A behaviour that was definitely mutual. As for the other teachers, anxious at first, they quickly became more comfortable with the guards, once they found out that most of them were rather friendly. Of course, Wolf was always reading some book from the library (actually reading his beloved orange friend, but hiding it behind another book, because of Tsunade's threat), seemingly not paying attention. Raven just 'hned' at everything, if you even got a reaction from him at all, giving everyone the cold shoulder (strangely enough, he did become rather talkative around his pink-haired comrade, though) and Deer added "troublesome" to pretty much any sentence he spoke, which was quite annoying.

However, then there were people like Lynx, who seemed to enjoy chatting with some of the girls, when not occupied with the male suitors, who were giving her flowers and chocolate every now and then (only to be scared off by a very aggressive Raven or sometimes Fox, not to mention "dark looks" from Wolf- you couldn't see them, but you just felt them). And Fox, who hung around with the Weasley twins, whenever he had a free minute, planning pranks and looking into those Skiving snackboxes. Or Eagle, who was just as talkative as Raven, but was on the contrary of his blue-haired friend much more ready to help the students with their homework or a good advice. And then there was Cat, who wasn't a woman of many words either, but still tried to get closer to the wizards anyway, conversing with them or saving them from Peeves' idiocies or even just sitting with them, soothing their nerves like she'd already done twice to Harry. She even took Lynx's place and accompanied him to his last two detentions (Umbridge had insisted that he recover the one lost), healing him afterwards, and telling him what she had seen from the Quidditch trying games from the window. Harry had just found out that Ron would try for Wood's old spot and therefore hang from her lips when she retold what she had seen.

Congratulations were in order!

Cat chuckled as he punched the air, before walking him back to the Griffindor common room, where his housemates were already celebrating. After a little while, Harry looked for Hermione to tell her what had transpired at the end of his detention. That his scar had burned, when Umbridge had touched him. The bushy-haired girl didn't look very concerned and brushed it off as Voldemort feeling strong emotions again, but told him he should see Dumbledore about it anyway.

"No," Harry just answered. He was angry at the headmaster and disappointed. The man hadn't spoken a word to Harry in month! "He has enough problems and like you said, it's nothing uncommon. It happened before and it will happen again. I don't want to bother him with this."

"Harry, I'm sure, he wants to be bothered with this-"

"Yeah, sure. After all, the only thing interesting in me is my scar!"

"You know, that that isn't true, Harry.

"Whatever!" The boy gave an exasperated sigh. "I think I'll write to Sirius, he'll know what-"

"No!" Hermione almost yelled. "Have you forgotten, what Moody told us. Our mail could be read, before it reaches it's destination, by someone else, maybe even by You-Know-Who. We can't risk that."

"Fine! Then I won't write him anything."

With that he went upstairs to his dormitory. Cat had listened to everything and knew very well that Harry would write that letter. He was probably already doing so. But that wasn't why she frowned behind her porcelain mask. Harry's scar burned sometimes, hm? Apparently, there was something that Dumbledore hadn't told them about.

Harry met Cho, when he sent the letter. He'd run all the way to the owlery and was covered in sweat, yet Cat entered right behind him without even breathing hard. Harry knew she was giving him dark glances. He knew, she knew, where this letter was supposed to go and agreed with Hermione, that he shouldn't send it.

He didn't care!

He did however, care when Cho defended him against Filch's accusations and supported his declaration that he had already sent the letter. Filch seemed to be convinced, that he wanted to order stink-bombs, which was utterly ridiculous. How he even got that idea into his head in the first place was unknown to Harry, while Cat had a pretty good idea, who gave him the 'clue' Filch had mentioned before.

'Lynx was right. The woman is getting to be a problem.'

"You didn't really order stink-bombs, did you?" Cho asked as Filch had left.

"No."

"Then why was he so fixed on the idea?"

"I don't have any clue."

They walked down the hallway together until they had to part, because the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room were situated in another part of the castle. Harry joined his friends at breakfast in a very good humor, because of Cho, but rubbed it off on Quidditch, when asked. He promised Ron to practice with him, before the actual training. Hermione was about to tell them, how many homework the two of them had to do, when the morning post flew into the hall, bringing terrible news with it.

"The ministry knows that Sirius is in London. Someone gave them a tip-"

"Lucius Malfoy, I bet," Harry spat.

**333333**

Later that day, after a shattering Quidditch training, Ron and Hermione were bickering about Ron's astronomy homework, when Hermione saw Hermes peck on the window of the Griffindor common room. They moved to open the window and then take the letter from the owl. Surprised for a few minutes, the Golden Trio just stared at the white envelop on which was definitely written Percy's name. Raven, who had been with them since Quidditch now, raised an eyebrow suspiciously as Ron opened the letter and read aloud:

**Dear Ron, **

I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect. 

**I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the "Fred and George" route, rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility. **

**But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions. **

**From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this- no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favorite but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different -- and probably more accurate -- view of Potter's behavior. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing - and see if you can spot yours truly!**

**Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school too. As you must be aware, given that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got off on a mere technicality if you ask me and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt. **

**It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter – I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent –but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behavior that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a really delightful woman, who I know will be only too happy to advise you. **

**This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that so far Professor Umbridge is encountering very little cooperation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week -- again, see the Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this -- a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now may be very well placed for Head Boyship in a couple of years! am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore (if you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders). I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions either. **

**I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realize how mistaken they were and I  
shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes. Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect. **

Your brother,  
Percy 

Baffled the three friends were silent for another minute.

"Well, " Harry finally said. "If you want to 'sever ties' with me, I promise not to be violent."

"He's the biggest-" Ron ripped the letter into halves. "-bastard-" He quartered them. "-on earth." He ripped them again and threw them into the fire. "Come on, we need to get this homework done until morning."

Hermione looked at him with a strange expression on her face:

"Oh, just give them to me."

"What?"

'_What?'_ Raven wondered the same thing.

"I'll correct them."

"Hermione, you're the greatest, best friend ever and if I'm ever mean to you again-"

"Then I'll know that you've turned back to your normal self," the girl laughed.

Raven just shook his head. Why was he even here? They were not in any danger in the common room. He was about to leave, when the portrait swung aside and Lynx entered into the scene.

"Finished your rounds?" he asked monotonously.

"Yeah. Eagle and Deer will take over now. I'm so glad, I'm done for the day, but I wanted to check on you, so we could walk back together?" the woman suggested timidly. She didn't know how he would react, if he would perhaps see it as if she was being like her twelve year old self again.

"I wouldn't mind." _'I wouldn't mind at all,'_ he added in his thoughts, but didn't dare say anything. Just as they were about to turn around, they heard an unusual crack in the fire. Looking into the flames they suddenly saw Black's head appearing there. What the hell? Was this man crazy? The whole country was looking for him and he appeared in the fireplace of a school?!

'_That stupid idiot,'_ both guards thought.

They listened to the following bickering about how risky his actions were- and they were on Hermione's side on that one. But it got really interesting, when Sirius asked about Harry's scar.

"Well, I know, it's not exactly funny when it happens, but we don't think that you really need to worry about that. It itched the whole last year, right?" Harry answered him, that yes, it did, because Voldemort had felt very strong emotions- or at least, that was what Dumbledore had told him. "Yeah, now that he's back, it'll probably hurt more often.

"So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge?"

"I doubt it. I know about her reputation, but I'm sure she is no Death Eater."

"She's mean enough to be one," Hermione put in."

'_We are, too,'_ Raven almost said.

"I know, she's a bitch- you should hear how Remus talks about her- but the world isn't divided into good people and Death Eaters."

"Lupin knows her?"

"She's the reason it's so hard for him to find a job. She thought up this law against half-breeds such."

"What's her problem?" Hermione wanted to know.

"She's afraid of werewolves and such, I guess. She hates half-breeds. She even wanted to drive together all merpeople and capture them. Think about how much energy is lost to such nonsense, when there's Voldemort on the lose. How is class with her, anyway? Is she teaching you to hate half-breeds?"

"No, she isn't teaching us anything. She isn't even letting us use our wands," Harry said.

"Yeah, of course. As far as we know, the ministry thinks they're trying to instruct you how to fight in a battle-"

"What?!" they all shouted.

"Yeah, they're paranoid."

"Then this new class will probably encourage them…" Hermione mused.

"What new class?"

"Wolf is teaching us Taijutsu- hand-tohand-combat."

"Yeah, that'll get her riled up."

"Right now, he's riled up."

"How so?"

"He got a scroll- two actually. The first one tried to eat him, yes Sirius, don't look at me like that, it did. And the second one… I don't know… got him angry. He blew it up and-"

Lynx cleared her throat. They were interfering with something that wasn't any of their business, but just her sensei's. She wanted to remind them, because they should respect his privacy.

"Mh, right. Anyway, do you know something about Hagrid?"

"He's doing something for Dumbledore. No need to worry, he's capable of taking care of himself. And don't even start asking questions I won't answer," he added with a smile, before suddenly changing the subject. "By the way, when's your next Hogsmead Weekend. Since, it worked that good on the platform I thought I could-"

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.

"Haven't you read the Daily Prophet, Sirius?"

"Oh, that. They don't know anything."

"Maybe, but we think that Malfoy saw through your diguise and told the ministry."

"Okay, okay. It was just an idea. Geez, I thought you might want to see me again."

"Of course I do, but I don't want you to end in Azkaban again. Besides, we're not even sure, if we'll have Hogsmead Weekends at all this year. It all depends on the guards." Harry answered, chancing a glance at the two ANBU in the corner. Silence ensued afterwards, before Sirius hastily bid them goodbye, saying something along the lines, that Harry's father would have liked the idea.

**333333**

The next morning, everyone was talking about the announcement in the Daily Prophet. It was the top matter in every corner of the Great Hall during breakfast. The only ones excluded from this conversation were the guards, because they didn't read the Daily Prophet, so they didn't know. That however was about to change as Lynx slammed one copy of the newspaper down infront of them on the table, before falling onto her seat. She had asked, if she could have a copy and immediately all her numerous suitors stepped up to give her one. In the end, the pink-haired woman had taken the one offered by Ginny Weasley, who had come to save her from all those boys that had surrounded her.

"I told you, she would be a problem!" she grunted into Wolf's direction.

The silver-haired man, who had just been eating a toast, took the newspaper and read it. Then giving it to the rest of them to do the same.

It said:

**Ministry works towards a school reform.**

**Dolores Umbridge appointed as new High Inquisitor**

"…"

**End of chapter 8!**

**A/N: Ah, well. What to say, but: Please leave your opinion in form of a review. :)  
I'll be gone after Feb. 8 for two weeks. I hope I'll be able to update before that day, but I can't promise anything. The chapter is ready, but has yet to be corrected, as I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy reading the fic with spelling or grammar errors. A reader can only overlook so many...**


	9. The High Inquisitor, Rumors, and Plans

**_Hogwarts' ANBU_ **

**A/N: And here comes another chapter. Umbridge will make her first inspections and our beloved friends of the shinobi countries will come to realize, how much of a problem she really is.**

**Chapter 9: The High Inquisitor, Rumors, and Plans**

_(Again at a dark place far, far away from Hogwarts)_

Clenching his fist, he stared at the scroll in his hand. It hadn't been the answer he had hoped for. Apparently, some war hindered the greater shinobi countries to send any of their warriors to aid him in achieving his goal. Not even the great amount of gold he'd promised to give them had lured them over the sea. Gritting his teeth, the Dark Lord looked down upon the man kneeling before him. His head was bowed, and he didn't look at his master, and his back was bent so much that it must hurt, but Voldemort didn't care.

"Well, since we can't hire shinobi to our will, we'll just have to corrupt the ones that are already here…" he snickered. "It will be your task to establish contact with them, since you're closest to them, and the old fool trusts you."

"Yes, my lord," the dark-haired man said.

"Find out with what to bribe them."

"Yes, my lord."

"I'll meet them then."

"Yes, my lord."

"And don't fail me, Snape."

"No, my lord," the Hogwarts professor replied as he raised and disapparated, leaving his master to throw the scroll into the fireplace infront of him.

**3333333**

As the wizard passed them by, the two figures pressed themselves closely to the ground, so that the dark-haired man wouldn't see them. They didn't bother hiding their chakra signatures, not having to fear that these people would sense their presence. Wizards weren't able to do that. No matter how powerful, they still depended on their wands completely to perform their magic. By no means were they any threat.

"_This isn't good,"_ the blonde murmured.

"_It could turn out to our advantage,"_ the other, dark-haired one replied. _"We should go tell taichou."_

"_Yeah, maybe he has a plan."_

"_And if he doesn't Wolf probably will…"_

**3333333**

Kakashi waited until everyone had silently read the article in the wizards' newspaper. He didn't rush them, even though the classes would begin soon, and they needed to take their positions. But this was too important to act rash. His team needed to read everything carefully to fully understand the extent of this new development. Furthermore, he wanted them to think it over, before giving any sort of statement. So, instead of rushing them to finish the not so welcomed literature (Shikamaru and Naruto were taking the longest, albeit for different reasons) he patiently waited, while listening in on the conversations of the students around him. Apparently Hogwarts' Golden Trio had already noticed the article as well as most other pupils of the magical school. And it seemed, that the three brats were just as irritated with this nonsense as he was.

As the bushy-haired girl had finished reading the article to the other two out loud, they wanted to get to their lesson in History of Magic really bad, in case Umbridge inspected it. Standing up, however, Harry realized that he was supposed to wait for one of the guards to accompany him to class. He stole a glance at them, sitting calmly at the head of the Griffindor table, and obviously waiting for their pineapple-headed comrade to finish reading the newspaper. The Boy-Who-Lived motioned for his two friends to walk over to them, and they slowly did so. As they approached the ANBU operatives, they could hear Deer mutter one of his famous "Troublesome…", before setting down the _Daily Prophet_.

"I told you, she would become a problem, sensei!" Lynx huffed into her teachers masked face. She was sitting opposite to him, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. She even had her feet on the table, as if to underline her statement. "So, what are we gonna do now? I mean, she is more than surely going to abuse her power and…"

"I know," Wolf interrupted, before she could go into one of her never-ending rants.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What are we gonna do?"

"There is nothing we can do." Surprisingly, it was Raven that answered. "I agree with you, this is gonna make everything more difficult, but we can't do anything about it. This isn't our country, and we most certainly don't have any power over the local authoroties. We will just have to live with it."

"But-"

"But that doesn't mean, we have to make it easy for the Toad, right?" the blonde guard asked with a certain tone in his voice. The very same one he used when planning pranks with the Weasley twins.

"This is serious, baka!" Lynx screeched.

"I kinda like the sound of that." Everyone turned to the silver-haired man. "We have to accept her as the new High Inquisitor, but that doesn't mean, we have to change anything in our behaviour towards her. And we most surely don't have to be nice to her. Quite the contrary, I think."

"Yeah, let's make her life a living hell, believe it!"

Cat nodded, and you could practically see her smile, even through the mask. Raven just shrugged, Deer muttered another "Troublesome!", before agreeing- as long as he didn't have to do anything too…

"Troublesome, we know!" his teammates chorused.

"Fine with me," Eagle finally spoke up. "But I agree with Lynx that we should keep an eye on her. We don't want anymore surprises, do we?"

Everyone nodded, before heading off for their various activities. Lynx finally walked Harry, Ron and Hermione to their class with Binns. The three students were highly anxious, because they would get into trouble if Umbridge was already there inspecting History of Magic. However, the Toad-woman wasn't in Binns' classroom, and neither could she be found in the dungeons with Snape, who handed Harry his report with a big D, saying that he gave them the grades they would've gotten if this were their O.W.Ls.

"And I'll start giving extra homework for all those morrons, that got a D," he barked at the class.

"Someone got a D?" Draco Malfoy giggled, until he caught Lynx glare at him through her mask. The blonde brat immediately fell silent, except for all the whimpering, and rushed out of the dungeon. Suddenly Harry felt a lot better, but that changed soon as Hermione babbled about her A all the way back to the Gret Hall for lunch. Somewhere in the middle of her speech, it became too much for Ron:

"Hermione, if you want to know, what we got, then ask."

"I didn't mean.. I… Of course I want to know."

"Well, I have a P."

"Now, that's nothing to be ashamed of!" came Fred's voice from behind as he caught up to them with his twin brother George and Lee Jordan. "There is nothing wrong about a good old P…"

"But doesn't P stand for…" Hermione began, only to have Lee finish the sentence for her.

"Poor, yeah, but it's still better than a D, wouldn't you agree? I mean 'Dreadful'…"

Harry felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. A moment later Lynx let something similar to needle fall and asked him, if he would be so nice to pick it up. Feeling relieved that someone understood him (even if it was scary, how she knew his grade- she'd been some distance away when he'd received his homework) Harry gratefully accepted the opportunity to 'be a gentleman' and ducked under the table. Taking as much time as humanly possible to find a needle that was as long as his forearm, he came back up to hand it over to the pink-haired guard, who thanked him by ruffling his hair. Unfortunately he wasn't saved yet, as Hermione was just trying to get the possible grades in the right order.

"Okay, the best grade is O for 'Outstanding', then comes A…"

"No, E for 'Exceeds Expectations'. I always thought, Fred and I should have gotten an E in everything, because we already exceeded the expectations by just being present during the exams!" George explained the little group and everyone burst out laughing. Even the ANBU guard giggled a little. Hermione was the only one who scowled- she just took everything too serious when it had to do with school!

"Fine. So, after O there's E, and then A. And you need at least an A to pass the O.W.L. exam, right?"

"Yes," Fred agreed readily, dipping his roll into the soup, then popping it into his mouth and swallowing it in one motion. Lynx gave a disgusted grunt. Harry turned around to see her plate already empty and wondering not for the first time, how the guards could possibly eat with those masks. Was it some kind of spell? As if sensing his thoughts, the pink-haired woman turned to face him and whispered only for him to hear that their hands were just faster than people's eyes.

"A is followed by P-" Ron raised his arms in a victorious pose- "and at last there is D for 'Dreadful'."

"And then T," George reminded his little brother.

"Worse than D?" Hermione asked, shocked. "What in all circles of hell could T possibly be?"

"'Troll'," George answered without a moment's hesitation.

Harry laughed again, even though he wasn't sure, if the Weasley was just joking. He imagined how it would be to hide that he had gotten a T in all of his O.W.Ls from Hermione and immediately decided to put a little more effort into learning. Then their conversation drifted to the upcoming inspections, and George told them how Umbridge had inspected Professor Flitwick's class just the hour before. Apparently, the Toad-woman wrote a few notes and asked Alicia some questions about how the class was going. All the while, Flitwick must have treated her like a guest of honor.

"Wolf, on the other hand, hasn't been as friendly…"

"What do you mean?" Lynx asked as her eyes narrowed. She knew her sensei, and wouldn't be surprised if Umbridge would come by lacking a hand if she stepped on Kakashi's toe too much- not to mention that the silver-haired ANBU Captain had been acting kind of weird lately. She had never seen him so constantly near the boiling point, than since he got that goddamn scroll Sasuke had told her about. He had been behaving out of character ever since then. From what she knew, Sayuri had talked to him, but he wasn't ready yet, and so she had let it slide- for the moment.

"Well, you know... Everytime she spoke, he would cringe. At some point, he simply told her to 'shut the hell up' or he'd… well, he said a lot of things even I don't want to repeat."

"Argh!" was all the young woman could say to this as she trailed a hand down her mask-covered face. "I knew I should have digged. Damn!" With that, she stood up and walked out of the hall, leaving a bunch of very baffled students behind. Exchanging looks, the kids just shrugged and went on to their respective classes.

**333333**

Finding Kakashi was easier said than done. The man seemed to have a sixth sense. Infact it took his only female students almost one and a half hour to even get so much as a glimpse of her former teacher. He was sitting in a tree at the end of the Forbidden Forest, while a class of third-years were listening intently to Professor Grubby-Plank, telling them something about unicorns.

"Here you are!" she gave a relieved sigh, when she plopped down infront of him.

"So are you! But say, shouldn't you be with young Mr. Potter?" Kakashi wondered with a hint of amusement in his voice. He was obviously not angry with her- that was a good sign nowadays!

"I asked Raven-kun to take my position. I'll take nightwatch instead of him, though."

"_**Raven-kun**_… I see."

"It's not him I wanted to talk about," she said, turning away as if to hide her blushing face from him, forgetting that it was masked anyway and that only her movement would give her embarrassment away now. She quickly turned around to glare at him, when she heard his chuckle.

"Then I guess, you want to talk about me?!" It was really more of a statement, than a question.

She nodded.

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Then I'd say, that you need to. Your behaviour is affecting the mission." She could feel his scowl immediately and hurried to correct herself. "It's influencing your team- us. We worry about you and that could make us careless or absent-minded when we need to focus on our target, you know that."

"Lynx-"

"Look, you don't have to talk about it with me, but you need to talk with…_someone_."

"And am I right in the assumption, that you've already _**someone**_ in mind?" He asked sighing, after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Well, you do know Cat the longest…"

"And I will talk to her, when I'm ready."

"But-"

"No buts, Lynx. It's my decision. Tell the others, not to worry, though, there is nothing to worry about, really."

"The way you're acting tells me otherwise."

"…Come here," Kakashi invited her, his arms wide open. Not hesitating for a moment, she crawled into his embrace(before he could rethink on it, he wasn't one for physical contact, normally), leaning her back against his front and laying her head in the crook of his neck. His arms were loosely holding her at her waist, while her own hands lay on top of his, his legs to both sides of hers. "There is something that is bothering me, I'll give you that. And it's bothering me greatly, because it's affecting my freedom. It feels like I'm being caged- a cage made out of gold with two bars- only that they expect me to close myself in- or they'll do it for me. I don't want to be caged, though. I like my freedom, and hate the idea that it's being taken from me. However, I do understand why it has to be done, and as much as I hate it, I'll do it, because it's for the well-being of our home."

"I'm sorry." _'When has he become such a philisopher?'_

"Don't be. It's not your fault, and you had no power over it anyway."

"No, I mean, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about your new assignment."

"You knew?"

"She's my shishou, sensei. She told me, what she was thinking about, but she was drunk and I thought she was joking. But what you just told me, confirms my suspicion, that she was being serious. I can't believe she'd actually force you to, but I have to admit I agree that you are the best man for the job."

"If it were just that…" Kakashi could've laughed. She was worried about **that**…

"What do you mean?"

"Remember what I said about two bars?"

"Um…yeah, so?"

„Let's just say, it's the second one that bothers me the most, and that will be affecting my life as soon as we get home. The other one is still far away and nothing to worry about."

"So, we weren't talking about the same thing?"

"Afraid not."

"I'm sorry."

"No need for."

"Sensei?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever it is, we'll be there for you. You know that, right?" She asked, turning around in his embrace. Kakashi chuckled and nodded, before telling her to go back to her duty. He had to take the waiting third-years back to the castle. After all, the class was already over. Lynx looked down. There was the whole class of brats looking up at them with big grins on their faces.

Lynx flushed, and smacked his arm.

'_If shishou, or Ino… or Genma get word of this, I'll never live it down.'_

**333333 **

Finding Umbridge in Divination was not what Harry had hoped and at one point he even pitied Professor Trelawney for the way Umbridge treated her. That changed, though, when she read his gruesome death out of each and every one of the dreams in his diary. Who did have his pity, however, was Raven, who had been forced to come with them by the pink-haired guard (Harry had seen them arguing in the hallway). The bluish-haired boy was constantly rubbing his temples- whether from the insufferable parfume of Professor Trelawney or Umbridge's girly voice, he would never find out.

'Probably both!' Harry decided silently.

Next up was Defence against the Dark Arts and the first thing Umbridge ordered, was to put away their wands. Whoever had been so optimistic to pull it out, let it slide back into his rucksack with a defeated look. Then they were ordered to read the second chapter of mr. Slinkhards boring book. With a big smile, Umbridge sat down at her desk, while Harry asked himself, if the chapters in this book would be enough to have them read it the whole year. Raven seemed to have the same idea as he took Hermione's book, who wasn't reading it anyway and hastily skimmed through the pages. Meanwhile the bushy-haired girl had raised her hand again, which led the students to watch their friend again, instead of reading. Umbridge had noticed this as well, and what was more, she seemed to have a strategy ready for the occasion. Standing up, she walked over until she was infront of Hermione and then bent low as to whisper in the girl's ear:

"What is it this time, Ms. Granger?"

"I already read chapter two."

"Well, then read chapter three instead."

"Read that as well. I've already read the whole book."

"Well, then you should be able to tell me, what is said about counter-spells in chapter fifeteen?"

"That they shouldn't be named that as it is just a way to make them look better."

Umbridge raised an eyebrow, and Harry knew that, against her will, she was impressed.

"But I don't share his opinion."

"You don't?" the Toad-woman asked, her voice dropping an octave as she became colder towards the girl. "Are you a ministry approved expert on the subject, Ms. Granger?"

"No, but-"

"Then you'll understand, that it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion that counts, not yours."

"But-"

"Five points from Griffindor."

"Why?" Harry fumed.

"Stay out of this!" Hermione snapped at him.

"Because she disturbed my lesson with senseless interruptions. I'm here to teach you following an approved plan of the ministry, and asking some student's opinion about things, they don't know anything of, is not part of it. Your other teachers in this subject may have given you some room, but since none of them- except maybe for Professor Quirrel, who at least stuck to age-appropiate material- would have survived an inspection by the ministry-"

"Yeah, Quirrel was a great teacher," Harry said loudly. "There was just this minor detail, that Lord Voldemort was sticking out of the back of his head, that was a little concerning."

After a moment of loud silence, Professor Umbridge gave him another week of detention.

"For what?"

The class turned to see Lynx standing in the door, but it had been Raven who had asked. The bluish-haired guard was standing, and tossed the copy of Slinkhard's book, he had previously borrowed from Hermione, back onto the girl's table.

"For speaking his mind? What are you wizards? A dictatorship?"

"I agree. That's just ridiculous," Lynx dead-panned.

"Well, of course such primitive neanderthals wouldn't understand the-"

She trailed off, when she felt a knife at her throat. Raven had moved fast enough not to be seen as more than a blur of white and black- and a hue of blue. Now he was standing right behind the Toad-woman, his bigger frame making her small form looking even smaller, her wand in his hand and a droplet of blood falling onto the ground.

'_Does this woman never learn?!?'_ Lynx thought, annoyed.

"What did you just call us?" he growled lowly into her ear.

But Umbridge didn't get a word out. All the while, Lynx seemed kind of torn between doing her duty, and saving the annoying woman, or letting her suffer for just a few minutes more for her own sake… Sighing, she knew she couldn't do that. So she took a step forward, gently reaching out for Raven's hand, and removing the kunai from it. Then she took Umbridge's wand, and layed it down onto the desk before tenderly, but firmly dragging her male comrade towards the door. Thanking him, she ushered him out, and told him to meet her later for some sparring in the forest, after she had taken Harry to his detention.

That evening the Boy-Who-Lived felt a little guilty, as he was sure, the pink-haired woman had better things to do than babysitting him (The whole castle knew by now, about the blantant display of affection, some third-years had witnessed this afternoon). When he apologized to her, while she was healing his bleeding hand, she huffed, and told him there was nothing between her sensei and her other than friendship. It would be taboo, anyway, she told him, knowing that he wouldn't believe a word, but not caring either way- and then sent him off with Deer, who had the displeasure to walk down the hallway at that moment.

"I have a meeting in the Forest," she told her superior, and, without waiting for a response, she 'poofed' away.

"Troublesome."

**3333333**

The moment she stepped over the borders of the Forbidden Forest, she had to avoid a giant flame coming towards her. Diving to the left, she barely escaped being turned to ashes. Her pink locks however didn't get out of it as unharmed as the rest of her. A few strands were burned to crisps, before she could put the fire out. Growling in anger, she turned to see the one responsible hanging upside down from a tree. He had foregone his mask as no one would come here anyway, so she could see his arrogant smirk.

'_If you want it that way, you have another thing coming.'_ The pink-haired girl grinned mischievously.

Grabbing her mask, she slid it off her head and layed it gently on the ground, before stretching for a few seconds. She would show him, why she was already lieutenant, and he still a simple soldier in their ranks. If he thought that she was still the weak little girl that needed protection, and that you couldn't take seriously as a kunoichi, he would have a bad awakening. Up until now, they had never actually sparred with each other at their full potential. They had only trained together for some taijutsu or weaponry. The only ninjutsu and genjutsu sparring she had done, were done with their sensei.

"Let's get started!" she yelled at her childhood love, green eyes blazing with determination. Sasuke disappeared in the very same moment to re-appear behind her a kunai at her neck.

"Looks like I win," he whispered.

"Then take a closer look," she answered back and turned into a log.

"What?!?"

"Hiyaa!" came Sakura's scream from above. Sasuke looked up. Jumping him from a tree-branch, she was flying towards him at full speed, fist raised and glowing with the power of her chakra. He had just enough time to stumble back a few feet away, before her fist connected with the ground and sent it into an earthquake. He was thrown off balance as the ground under him tore open and would've almost fallen into the split, if it wasn't for his quick reaction. He made a jump for a far away tree, where he came to a shaking halt. Looking down to his opponent, he saw her already cracking her knuckels.

"Let's continue, shall we?" she grinned, and vanished in a whirl-wind of sakura petals.

He found her coming at him a moment later and following him as he let himself fall off the branch in order to escape her punch. Bracing his arms against the ground, before he could hit his head, he made a flick and was standing a good distance away from her in the next moment. Sakura had foregone to punch the ground again to save chakra. A mistake, that gave him time to form the necessary seals:

"_Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!"_ he yelled as he released one of his most lethal attacks.

But Sakura was prepared.

"_Doton: Kabe no Tsuchi no jutsu!"_she retorted, touching one hand to the ground and raising a giant wall from it.

His fire attack was useless against her defence. Instead of trying again, Sasuke jumped over the wall, only to find Sakura gone. Looking around carefully and stretching out his senses to feel her chakra signature, he stood there for a moment, just as Sakura had foreseen. Thus giving her the time to perform her hopefully last jutsu for this sparring session.

"_Doton: Shinzuusanshu no jutsu!"_ (**Earth technigue: Suicidal Beheadding- I think in the english version it's something along the lines of "Head Hunter technigue")**

And within the next few seconds Sasuke landed in the dirt up to his throat. Sakura was hovering above him, smiling victoriously. The blue-haired boy huffed. He had unterestimated her and didn't go all out on her. Or at least, that was what he told himself, because he still found it hard to believe, that she had become so good in the years he hadn't been there. Had she gotten stronger in order to achieve her goal and make him notice her or just to bring him- well, actually drag him back to Konoha like she claimed. It was true, that he had come back out of his own free will, but the moment she saw him walking towards the gates (she had been running an errand to Izumo for her shishou) she'd stormed over to him, yelled at him, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him along with her until he stood infront of the Godaime herself!

It had been scary…

In any case, she had gotten her point through!

"I win!" Sakura chirped.

"Yeah, yeah! Now free me."

"Hmm… no."

"What?"

"Don't I get a prize?"

"A prize? We never agreed on a prize."

"Too bad," she stated, before standing up, "because then I can't give you your prize either." Her playful tone and that mischievous smile sent warm shivers down his spine. He looked up into her emerald orbs, trying to figure out, what she wanted him to say- anything to get out of the dirt. He could feel worms sneaking around his calves…

"For what?"

"For standing up for the children, of course. That was so… _**nice**_ of you."

"Hn."

"Well, seems like I just have to take my prize then," she murmured, bending down again to catch his lips in a quick kiss, that was more of a gentle brush of lips against lips than a real kiss, really. "Hmm."

Then she pulled him out of his prison with so little effort, it was almost embarrassing. Next thing he knew, she was hugging him and mumbling a 'thank you' for his actions in Defence against the Dark Arts today. Not knowing what else to do and still shocked by her boldness, he closed his arms around her petite form and just nodded dumbly.

**3333333**

The following few days went by slowly for Harry. Not only because of his detention with the much hated Toad-woman, but also because of Angelina Johnson yelling at him for getting detention yet again, which brought Professor McGonnagall onto the stage, who took five points from Giffindor. Then there was Hermione saying that he should learn how to control his temper and Cat, who looked at him, like she was very disappointed. The latter probably being the worst thing of all. For some reason, he just couldn't stand that look- even if he didn't see it through the mask, he knew it was there, and that was enough. He had the strange sensation, this was what he'd be feeling, if his mother would throw disappointed glances his way, which led him to wonder, if maybe Cat had children his age, and this was just the normal mother-effect every mother had on teenage kids.

The only light of hope was the inspection of Professor McGonnagalls class, because Umbridge finally got what she deserved. First McGonnagall ignored her as best as she could and when she finally couldn't pretend, that there was no one in the corner, she snapped at every little "Chrm, chrm" the Toad-woman emitted. Harry's anger at the Deputy Headmistress dissolved into nothingness at that.

Later that evening, after his bloody detention, he came back into the Griffindor common room, ushered through the portrait hole by Cat, only to find Hermione and Ron still up and talking. It was almost midnight and the fire was almost down, but they seemed to have an animated conversation as he slumped onto the couch. The brown-haired ANBU followed his example and stretched her muscles a little.

"Hi Harry!" Hermione greeted him. "We've just been talking about how we need to do something against the Toad."

At this, Cat's ears perked up.

"I suggested poison," Ron told him. They shared a small laugh, before Hermione spoke up again.

"No, seriously, we mean, because she is such a bad teacher. We need to take it into our own hands."

'_This doesn't sound good,'_ Cat thought. _'Please, dear gods, don't let them do something stupid.'_

"If you mean Lupin or Moody, they are hundreds of miles away and-"

"No, we were talking about you!" Hermione told him.

'_Like this.'_

"Me?" Harry asked, turning to Ron in order to exchange annoyed glances, like they did, when she was talking about freeing the house-elfs, but Ron didn't look annoyed.

"Yeah.

"But- I'm not a teacher, I can't…"

"You're the best in DADA, Harry," Hermione reminded him.

"That's not true, you always beat me at the exams."

"I did not. In the third year, you beat me, and it was the only year, where we made the exam with a professor that actually knew something about the subject he was teaching- and wasn't completely crazy. Think about what you _did_."

"What do you mean?"

"You know…" Ron interjected. "I'm not so sure, I want a teacher, that is this dumb."

'_Why do these things always happen to me,'_ Cat complained silently.

And so the two children went on, telling Harry about his heroic doings, while the Boy-Who-Lived always objected, saying it was only luck or that he had a lot of help, until finally after a long discussion they agreed, that he would think about it. Bidding goodbye to Cat, the brats moved to the stairs when the portrait swung aside again to reveal Wolf. The silver-haired man came in, calmly walking over to his comrade and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Is it time again?"

Wolf chuckled.

"Afraid so."

"Nichtwatch?"

"Yup." The elite smiled happily, she knew.

"Ugh, fine," Cat groaned as she started to raise herself from the comfy pillows of her seat.

"Let me help you!" Wolf chuckled again. Gently taking hold of her hand, he lifted the woman to her feet, before leading her out of the common room with a hand comfortably resting on her lower back. He walked so closely behind her that their bodies almost touched, and Harry began to believe what Lynx had told him about her sensei and herself.

**333**

Later that night, Sasuke and Sakura returned to the ANBU's quarters. The common room was almost dark, the fire dying down, and most of the residing shinobi already in bed- if they didn't have the misfortune to have nightwatch. However, they found Eagle sitting infront of the fireplace, still fully clothed, except for his mask. He was staring at the flames as if waiting for the answer to an unheard question. When his two junior officers approached him, Neji turned his head into their general direction to tell them that he noticed them, and was listening, if they had something to say.

"_Guess who we just met!"_ Sakura chirped with false happiness.

"_The Toad-woman."_

"_Almost as bad. Genma and Yamato- and what they had to say…"_

**End of chapter 9!**

**A/N: Ah, another chapter done. I hope you enjoyed it. Well, what do you think: What could Voldemort be up to?**


	10. The Beginnings of Rebellion

**_Hogwarts' ANBU_**

**Chapter 10: The Beginning of Rebellion**

Hermione actually waited two entire weeks, before mentioning her idea of him teaching interested students Defence against the Dark Arts again. In those weeks, a lot had happened. Ron had been to another four Quidditch training sessions and hadn't been yelled at during the last two of them and in McGonnagalls class the Golden Trio finally made their mice disappear (Hermione was already making kittens disappear). As for Taijutsu, Wolf had put a few logs on the training field as to show them how to correctly carry out a punch, and started showing the faster learning students how to use kunai, and shuriken. There were still some students that didn't pass the bell test- mostly Slytherins- but even Ron had only passed because, after watching a few times, Hermione had finally understood, what Wolf really wanted from them, and had given her red-headed friend a nudge in the right direction. Umbridge hadn't inspected their extra-class yet, probably out of fear, due to her latest 'arguement' with the ANBU, but everyone was sure that she was plotting something.

The guards seemingly didn't care, though…

But for Harry, there had been the greatest changes! He was finally done with his detention, and he highly doubted that the words carved into his hand would have ever disappeared again, if Lynx hadn't healed him each and every time. When he thought about the pink-haired guard, he always felt guilty that he couldn't repay her. After the third-years had told everyone who wanted to listen to them about what had transpired between the silver- and the pink-haired guard, it had been everything Hogwarts talked about. The good thing was that at least Lynx' suitors had backed off from her. But all the bad things that came with it, out-numbered this one achievment easily.

The young woman had gone through quite some things in the past two weeks. For one, after the animated tales of the third-years, people had gone over to judge her- some being in the Anti-Wolf/Lynx-group, and some on the Pro-Wolf/Lynx-side. The first one was mostly made up of the Slytherins that were just looking for a reason to pick on the guards (especially Malfoy), and some of the older students of Ravenclaw. The latter consisted of the majority of girls in Hogwarts, and the helpless romantics that just loved stories like Romeo and Juliet…

And it seemed that both sides annoyed her the same!

She didn't show it much on the outside (she had gotten better at controlling her temper), ignoring the students with their snidey remarks, and ambigous suggestions, but Harry could see her tensing, whenever someone stepped too close, or made an off-coloured joke. The worst were probably Snape's comments! While the other teachers had the decency to fake ignorance, the Potions' master would use every opportunity to humilate the young ANBU, making the Slytherin side of the dungeon roar in hilarious laughter, while the Griffindors clenched their fists. In their opinion, Lynx didn't deserve such a treatment. She'd been nothing but nice to the students, even the Slytherins- except for that one time on the train, when she had sent Malfoy flying (Harry still enjoyed thinking about that).

A few times, one Griffindor or another was about to speak up, and- consequences be damned- give Snape a piece of his/her mind, but the young medic with the rosette hair had always been by that student's side, laying a hand on his, or her shoulder, and shaking her head just slightly. She acted like she didn't care, even though everyone knew better. She was being tough, although it was hurting her inside.

And then, one day, Snape crossed a line!

"I would ask Ms. Parkinson to give back this homeworks," he started, an evil gleam in his eyes as he held the stack of paper into the air for everyone to see. The Griffindors, and Slytherins immediately knew what would come next, and, while one half was waiting for it eagerly, the other was gritting their teeth in disgust. "-but who knows what people would think about me, if our hands accidentilly brushed. I'm not a pedophile, and-"

Snape never finished that sentence, because before knew what had happened, he was on the floor face first, one hand pinned behind his back, Lynx sitting comfortably on his back with a foot on his head, and holding a kunai to this throat. Her growling made it apparent to everyone that she was seething with rage. Jumping from their seats, the Slytherin students made for the wall at the other end of the dungeon, while the Griffindors grinned smugly, happy that their friendly guard had finally taken the matter into her own hands!

"Personally, I don't care what you say about me, but if I hear one more bad word about my sensei, you'll be extremly sorry!" the young woman hissed, her voice laced with venom and a promise.

"My, my, protective, aren't we?" a smooth baritone voice asked. Everyone turned around to see the object of the current predicament standing in the entrance, leaning against the door-frame. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he stood there as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Let him go, Lynx."

"Sensei? What are you doing here?" said woman asked as she raised herself off of Snape's back.

"We heard strange noises coming from here and decided to take a _**look**_," Cat's calm voice drifted over as she appeared from behind her comrade's taller frame, resting an arm leisurely on his shoulder, and leaning slightly on him.

"Oh…"

"And I can't help but notice, that I should be the overprotective one here. Insulting us is not the best way to _make friends_ with us, Snape-san," Wolf added, amusement lacing his voice, and way too casual. However, that changed as he turned fully towards the still groaning Snape, and added coldly, menacingly. "Which is why I feel compelled to say that if I hear so much as a whispered rumor about you, or anyone else making sick, degrading jokes about my former student, I'll have that person, and everyone who laughed about it dig their own graves, am I understood?!"

Snape had made a face, but nodded. So did the Slytherins.

"Good." Cat sighed, relieved. "If you're done, Wolf, I'd like to get back, and take a nice long shower. If you don't mind…" She indicated towards the hallway.

"Shower, hm?" the silver-haired male chuckled. "Now that you mentioned it, I could use one, too… Care if I join you?"

"SENSEI!" Lynx yelled at the top of her lungs. Sometimes, her temper still got the best of her…

"Just asking, jeez," her former teacher replied, a smug smirk in his voice.

"I wouldn't mind."

"CAT!" the pink-haired girl screeched, while the students turned different shades of red.

"Just saying!" the woman answered, laughing. "No need to get so riled up. I mean, can you really blame me? I highly doubt that you would protest, if your childhood _**friend**_ would proposition to you."

The younger ANBU obviously blushed as she averted her eyes to the ground.

"Now, that's nothing to be ashamed off, Lynx. He's a fairly attractive man… and so is Wolf," Cat said slyly.

"In any case, that's nothing to discuss in front of the brats!" Wolf's comment interrupted the women's conversation as he grabbed Cat's wrist, and gently dragged her out of the dungeon, leaving a room full of flushed people in awkward silence.

"They didn't really mean that, did they?" Ron asked no one in particular.

"Argh! It seems that with every minute she spends with him, she adopts more of his most infuriating traits, such as making risqué jokes…" the only left guard grumbled.

The students sweatdropped.

_(Later)_

It was this very evening that Hermione spoke up about her idea again. Eagle was sitting with them around the fire, too, so it looked almost like a De-ja-vú (he had long brown hair, too, after all). Harry had been thinking intently about her suggestion in the past few weeks. There were times, where it looked like a crazy idea, like it did the evening his friends first mentioned it, and then other times he had to think about all the spells, that had helped him survive all his various encounters with dark creature.

Harry actually caught himself, thinking about lessons already…

"Well, I thought about it…"

"And?" the bushy-haired girl asked.

"I don't know," he said evasively, looking up at Ron.

"I thought it was a great idea from the beginning," Ron said, who, seeing as Harry wasn't about to yell at them again, was much more talkative now. Harry shifted embarrassedly in his seat, while chancing a glance at the last person in the room, as if asking his approval. Eagle, obviously, reserved any kind of judgement, though Harry couldn't help but be under the impression, that he thought them very stupid, even if quite courageous…

"I told you, I had a lot of luck all those times…"

"Yes, Harry-" Hermione gently confirmed. "-but it would be ridiculous to fake that you weren't great at Defence against the Dark Arts, because you are. Last year, for example, you were the only one who was able to completely shake off the Imperius-curse. And you can conjure a real patronus, something not even most last-years of Durmstrang can do. Viktor always said-"

"Yeah? What did Vicky say?" Ron asked defiantly, interrupting his female friend, which earned him a glare, both from Hermione and Eagle, the latter probably just wanting to enjoy the peace and quiet, the edge in Ron's voice had disrupted. Needless to say, the red-head fell quiet immediately.

"Well, what do you say? Do you want to teach us?" Hermione finally asked, ignoring Ron's comment.

"Just the two of you, yes?" Harry said with a hopeful voice, though knowing better. Eagle snorted incredously, and indeed Hermione explained to him that he should teach everyone that would like to learn, how to defend themselves from Voldemort. And it was the fact that she used the Dark Lords name more than anything, that placated Harry. However, the Boy-Who-Lived interjected that with the people thinking him a crazy maniac, there wouldn't be many to teach, to which Hermione countered with a "You'd be surprised…" that set him off all over again.

"Look, why don't we tell everyone that's interested, that we'll meet them on our first Hogsmead Weekend somewhere in the town?"

"You mean, if there _**will be**_ a Hogsmead Weekend!" Harry reminded her. "Did you forget what Lynx said?"

"No, but I, on the contrary of you two, have watched the guards train, when they weren't teaching or patrolling the last few weeks, and know what they're capable of. I highly doubt, a little town full of wizards will scare them," Hermione said, matter-of-factly, sparing a glance at Eagle, who the Golden Trio knew felt slightly proud against his will.

"But why do we have to do it out of school?" Ron asked.

"Because, it's unlikely that the Toad-woman would appreciate what you are doing, wouldn't you agree?" Eagle spoke up for the first time, before rising and walking out of the Griffindor common room as his break was over.

**3333333**

The guards had assembled in their own common room by now, Wolf- as expected- being the last to join them. In complete silence, except for the cracking in the fire place, they sat on the seats and couches, waiting for someone to begin the conversation. That went on for a few minutes and as no one seemed willing to be the one to break the ice, Shikamaru shifted in his seat, muttering another one of his trademark Troublesomes.

"It's getting closer, and we still need to check out the town," he murmured.

"…"

"Actually, I have taken a look at it," Neji cleared his throat. "On the first evening, when I checked the school grounds. It seems to be a peaceful little town full of civilians- well, civilian wizards. It's not a fortress, but two or three of us should still be enough to make sure nothing bad can happen- and since apparently some of the kids want to meet in town, they're going to be safe just by the large number of them. I think, we can let them go."

"I agree," Sakura admitted. "Sasuke and I have visited the city and it looked quite endearing."

"You visited it?" Kakashi asked, brows creased. They had disregarded the animal masks, as they were alone. The cloth covering the lower half of his face was still there, though.

"Yeah, two weeks ago. We had a sparring session in the Forbidden Forest, and since we were already close by, we thought, we might as well check it out. We also met Genma there, remember?"

"And?" Naruto asked, curious as ever.

Flashback

"But why do I have to come with you?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because I say so."

_Sasuke sighed. It was futile to argue, she would have it her way, so it was better to give in without further arguement. At least it would save him from one of her chakra-enfused punchs- even though she would probably heal him immediately, and feeling her chakra in his system was quite nice… But it was just not worth all the pain! So, instead of complaining, he just shrugged his shoulders, and moved to follow her steps on the way into town. _

When they reached the first few houses, there was nobody who payed much attention to them, probably due to the lack of light on the streets. The wizards most likely didn't even notice them. However that changed drastically as they entered the more crowded part of the village. Here, wizards, and witches stopped dead in their tracks to openly gape at them. Whispers could be heard. Apparently they had already heard about the new guards at the castle, but were surprised and also a little frightened to see them in their small town.

_Neither Sakura nor Sasuke cared much._

_Without the courtesy of a hello, or even a friendly nod, they made their way around town to look for possible bridges in security- only to find out this place didn't have any. Security, that is. These wizards were either not that afraid of this Voldemort-guy, or they didn't believe that he was really back, and maybe they were a little stupid, too. As if Voldemort would be the only thing to be afraid of! _

_In any case, the lack of security annoyed both guards!_

Once they had finished their checking-out session, they made a second run through the town, just for fun. By this time, the pink-haired girl had linked arm with him, and her avenger-companion found himself silently enjoying their closeness. Leisurely strolling through the streets, they'd stop once in a while, and Sakura would point at some shop, or other that offered candy, or parchment, or pets. She found a very cute looking squirrel, and began musing about buying a pet once they got home. She quickly dismissed the thought, however, as she was always away on missions as well as her friends, and she didn't know who would take care of the poor beast then.

'Maybe a cat would be the right pet for her…' _Sasuke thought, since the feline could take care of itself quite well. He felt compelled to tell Sakura his conclusion, and maybe even go choosing the little creature with her, just to see her smile at him, her green eyes radiating with joy. _

_He was interrupted, when two wizards stepped into their way._

_The two men wore dark blue cloaks like it was some sort of badge. They had angry expressions on their faces, which only darkened when they took in Sasuke's appereance._

"Can we do something for you?" _The Uchiha asked, coolly._

"Are you the guard that attacked Madam Umbridge, the High Inquisitor-"

"One of them," _the bluish-haired boy replied, thinking about Sayuri._

"We're aurors, and here to put you under arrest by order of the minister-"

"Nice joke," _Sakura snorted._

"I wasn't joking, Miss," _the man said, stoicly._

"Then I am not joking either, when I say, that if you don't stop bothering us, you'll regret that your mother ever gave birth to you," _a dark voice answered. The aurors turned on their heels- behind them there stood two more masked people. Two men about a head taller then them, a Bear- and a Lion-mask over their faces, hands already on their swords, which were strapped to their backs._ "Now go, and don't ever come back here again- or at least not for as long as we are here, because next time, we won't be so lenient!"

Both wizards raised their wands, but thought better of it a moment later. They were out-numbered after all!

"And you…" _Yamato directed his words towards his young subordinates._ "What are you up to?"

"Huh?" _Sakura asked, confused, then noticed that her arm was linked with Sasuke's, and, blushing, hastily pulled away. She hadn't even noticed what she'd done, and was now hoping that her friend wasn't too angry with her. Meanwhile, Sasuke was really annoyed at the loss of warmth, not to mention the feeling of her soft body against his arm._ "Oh, nothing. We were just checking if the village was safe for the students… But what are you doing here, anyway?! Shouldn't you be doing missions and such?"

"Oh, and you think we're here on the other side of the world in full gear just for kicks, hm?" _Genma dead-panned._ "Godaime-sama sent us for some information-gathering. We-"

"Not here, Bear. Let's go someplace more private."

"Yeah, right. Sorry."

"How about the castle?"

"NO!" _both men chorused._

"You see, we heard from Tsunade that old one-eye is in a sensitive state, and wouldn't want to… you know…" _Genma added, nervously._

"…"

"Can't blame you," _Sasuke agreed._ "I'd rather be someplace else as well. He's acting weird. Any idea why?"

"No. Only that Godaime-sama has something to do with it. You?"

"Same as you."

"Ah, damn. I had hoped on some juicy story to-"

"Chrm chrm," _Yamato made, and was surprised, when both Sakura and Sasuke cringed at the sound. They motioned for the two ANBU Captains to follow, and agreed to telling them later, when everything important was discussed._

"Just don't do it again,"_ Sakura told them._

_End of Flashback_

"And what we discussed, we told you. Yamato, Genma, Sai, and Ino split up once they arrived in England, and Genma decided it would be better to inform us personally, when they got something new, in case the summon would be attacked or side-tracked on his way here- or someone would try to overhear… And that Voldemort wants to bribe us," Sakura reported back. "It's a nice town, really. There is only one place, I wouldn't like to have the kids going. It's called the Hog's Head. That's a pub that is… well, to put it bluntly, disgusting."

"And let me guess!" Shikamaru mumbled sarcastically. "That's exactly where the kids plan to go?!"

"Mmh, from what I overheard… yes."

A collective sigh could be heard.

"So?" Sayuri spoke up after contemplating for a moment. "Are we letting the students have their fun?"

Everyone turned to Kakashi, who sighed.

"If everyone agrees, I guess."

The other ANBU nodded silently, except for Shikamru, who mumbled a "Troublesome, but yes!" and then stood up to get going. He had nightwatch today. Neji followed after him.

**33333333**

The morning of their first Hogsmead Weekend started out bright, but windy. After breakfast the students lined up infront of Filch, who scratched their names from a long, long list, before re-grouping under the watchful eyes of Eagle and Lynx, who stood at the entrance. The guards had finally agreed to allowing the students to go into the village as long as they accepted the same rules that existed within the castle's walls. Which meant that third- to fifth-years had to go in groups of at least five people, and sixth- and seventh-years in groups of at least three. When Harry stepped infront of Filch, the man started to sniff around him as if trying to find a certain scent on him. The older man then nodded, and let him pass. Getting odd looks from his friends, Harry told them the story of Filch suspecting him to buy stink bombs. Hermione seemed quite interested in that story, wondering who might have given him the cue. When the dark-haired boy guessed the culprit to be Malfoy, she seemed reluctant to accept that, but didn't argue either.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had passed Filch's scrutiny, only to be stopped by the brown-haired guard, who told them that they weren't going anywhere without him. The Golden Trio had heard the ANBU discussing what was to be done about them, and had agreed that Eagle and Lynx would go to this meeting with them to ensure that nothing would go wrong. So, they waited until everyone else had left, before making their way down the road to the village. Like many students before them, they stopped dead in their tracks for a second to watch as they saw Wolf sitting with his back against a tree. He was reading some orange-covered book that he held with one hand. The other was almost tenderly massaging Cat's scalp, the woman having her head resting on his thigh.

The Golden Trio blushed furiously at the possible implications.

At the sound of a low growl, Harry turned to Eagle, who was being scolded by his pink-haired subordinate. She was reminding him that Cat- apparently a relative of Eagle- was a grown woman and could make her own choices.

"Besides, there is nothing inappropriate with what's happening, so get a grip!" She scoffed at him.

Hogwarts' Golden Trio exchanged looks, before strolling onwards with a last glance at the two love-birds enjoying their free time (the guards had agreed that some of them would get a free day on each of the Hogsmead Weekends).

"Where are we even going?" Harry asked.

"To the Hog's Head," Hermione said as if it was nothing, yet Harry and Ron could definitely hear the slight groaning that escaped the guards throats as they walked around a corner to see a wooden sign, on which the head of a hog could be seen, bleeding all over the white tissue underneath it.

Lynx gave a disgusted snort.

"Are you sure we're allowed to go in there?" Ron asked.

"Yes, yes, I am," the bushy-haired girl answered. "I even asked Professor Flitwick, if we could, and he said yes, but suggested bringing our own glasses."

"Oh, okay."

"And who did you say wanted to come?"

"Oh-" Hermione squeaked. "Just a few people, you know."

However, when they entered the dubious establishment, they were met by a large crowd of Hogwarts' students, and a very stunned barkeeper. It looked like the man had never seen so many people in his pub in all his life. Fred and George were just ordering drinks for everyone and demanding the money from the boys and girls.

"And what would our beloved guards like to quench ther thirst?" Fred asked friendly. He had been one of the people who hadn't lowered themselves to taking sides, and had treated Lynx the same- he had, although, been one of the Griffindors who had most wanted to break Snape's nose, and stuff a stinking sock into every laughing Slytherin's mouth!

"I don't want anything, thanks," Eagle replied. From what he had seen, he didn't trust the glasses here. Especially since they seemed to get dirtier with every try the bartender gave at cleaning them.

"A shot of Tequila would be nice."

Everyone looked at her, even her comrade.

"Don't look at me like that, Eagle, I don't think they have Sake here!" She defended herself.

"…You shouldn't drink while on duty, period…" Neji murmured.

Once the shock had ebbed away, and everyone had their drinks, Lynx sitting contented with a small glass of clear liquid in her hand in one of the corners, they all sat down. Harry whispered an annoyed "_**A few people**_?" into Hermione's ear. The girl flushed and told him that many seemed to like the idea, before giving a little speech as soon as everyone had calmed down. She told them how she thought they should take matters into their own hands when it came to Defence against the Dark Arts, and learn how to really cast all the spells Umbridge refused to teach them.

"You want to pass your O.W.L.s, I bet!" a boy named Michael Corner called over.

"Of course I want to, but there are more important reasons why we should learn how to defend ourselves," Hermione huffed. "For example, because…because Lord V-voldemort is back." The reaction was predictable, and came instantanously. Cho Chang's friend spilled some of her drink onto herself, Terry Boot visibly flinched, Padma Patil shivered, and a strange gasping noise could be heard from Neville, which he tried to cover up as a cough. All of them now looked expectantly at Harry. "Well, that at least is the plan. If you want to participate, we need to discuss, when-"

"Where's the proof that You-Know-Who is back?" A blonde player of the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team asked rather aggressively. "All we have is his word."

"Who are you?" Ron wanted to know from the annoying brat.

"Zacharias Smith, and I think, everyone here would like to know, why he says that You-Know-Who is back."

Harry finally understood, why so many people were so eager to come here today. Not because of Hermione's idea, but because they had hoped to hear a juicy story. "Why I claim that You-Know-Who is back? Simple, because I saw him, but Dumbledore already told you the story last summer, and if you didn't believe him then, you won't believe me now, and I won't waste an afternoon to convince you. But why would Death Eaters attack our school train, if not because Voldemort ordered them to? But, if you're here to hear some tale about how it is to confront Voldemort, you may as well go."

And there the discussion began again. About all the things he had done- and more importantly survived- in the past four years of school, while Harry argued that he had always had a lot of help and luck. When Zacharias Smith then started to doubt the Boy-Who-Lived, because of his modesty, Fred and George took the opportunity to threaten the boy with their new devices and the boy paled a little.

"You know, we could clean your ears with this-"

"Or stick it someplace else, we aren't prudish about this, you know!" Fred added as George held up a long, dangerous looking instrument, before adding: "Or maybe, we should leave you alone with our pink-haired friend here. She doesn't look too pleased with you, does she?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Smith noticed that indeed Lynx was tapping her foot impatiently, and even Eagle had crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. Suddenly, Zacharias seemed very interested in the pattern on the walls.

"So?" Hermione tried again. "Are we all agreeing that we want Harry to teach us?"

Nodding could be seen and a few even mumbled a "yes". The Smith-boy, still eyeing the moody guards, didn't say anything.

"Well, in that case, we have to decide how many times we meet. Honestly less than once a week wouldn't do us any good-"

"Wait a minute!" Angelina suddenly spoke up. "What about Quidditch training?" At this another argument began, which Hermione put to an end by assuring them that they would find an evening where everybody could be present.

"But you have to understand that this is really important, because since V-Voldemort is back, we need to learn how to defend ourselves from his Death Eaters, like the ones that attacked the Hogwarts' Express."

"I agree!" Ernie Macmillian spoke up. Harry had already been waiting for him to say something. "Personally, I think this is one of the most important things during this whole year- maybe even more important than the O.W.Ls." He looked around, daring everyone to shout "Certainly not!", and as nothing came, he continued. "I just can't understand, why the Ministry sends us such an useless teacher in a time like this, one that wouldn't even let us use magic at all?!"

"Oh, we think, that's exactly it," Hermione answered, without being asked. Maybe it was some kind of gene, one that forced her to reply to every question thrown into the same room as her? "We think Fudge is afraid that Dumbledore might be trying to make an army out of us, that he would like to send into battle against the ministry. Which is why, Umbridge is so against the guards, and our new class, too."

This explanation seemed to baffle everyone, except for Luna Lovegood, who said something about Fudge having his own army of… At that point, Neji and Sakura stopped listening, as they knew it would only fuel another heated argument with the bushy-haired girl. After a few minutes of senseless bickering, a loud "_**Chrm, Chrm**_" could be heard, that made the students jump. Even the guards were bewildered for a moment, though they knew it couldn't be the Toad-woman- they would've felt her. In fact, it was the young Ginny Weasley, whose wide grin somehow reminded Neji of his younger cousin, Hanabi, on one of her more mischievious days…

The students then thought about where they would want to meet and it was decided that it would remain undecided. Harry, Ron and Hermione were left to think about it, and then inform the others. Before everyone departed however, the Griffindor genius wanted them to sign a paper. By signing, they would agree not to tell anybody- especially Umbridge herself- about their little rebellion. Here, people shifted uncomfortably, because none of them wanted to put their names on something. When Harry reminded Ernie who excused himself by saying he was a prefect that he had said that this was the most important thing going on this year. When Hermione asked him if he really believed she was going to leave this parchment unattended, Macmillian reluctantly agreed to sign his name on the paper. After that, no one argued anymore and soon they left into different directions.

Outside and out of ear-shot, the first thing Ron said, was: "Zacharias Smith is a little bastard, wouldn't you agree?"

"I don't like him much, either," Hermione admitted, while Harry and the guards stayed silent. "But he heard how I talked with Ernie at the Huflepuff-table and he seemed really interested, too. So, what was I supposed to say? On the other hand, zhe more, the better – Michael Corner probably wouldn't have been there either, if he didn't date Ginny-"

"He does what?!" Ron asked furiously, while choking on his drink, his ears burning red. "She dates- What? My sister dates- what do you mean, Michael Corner? Who was that?"

"The dark one."

"I didn't like that one."

"Now, that's surprising!" Hermione and Lynx murmured at the same time, rolling their eyes. Exchanging a glance, they shrugged and went on.

**End of chapter 10!**

**A/N: Well, it's finally posted... I hope you enjoyed it, and, again, I'm sorry it took so long. I'll try to update at least once a month from now on.**

**Please review!**


	11. Cat's Past and Dumbledore's Army

**_Hogwarts' ANBU_**

**Warning: not beta-ed (I re-read it a few times, but english isn't my native tongue, and spell-checker can only do so much, so I'd like to apologize for any errors in grammar, spelling etc) and it's very dramatic, maybe a bit melodramatic... I needed a sad, sad story, though...**

**Chapter 11: Cat's Past and Dumbledore's Army**

"She's really beginning to be a problem now," Sayuri said, while dogding her friends newest fire jutsu. Kakashi grunted noncommitingly in response. He knew she was right, and she knew, he knew, but he was never one to admit these things out loud. The silver-haired man was also very much aware of what his brown-haired sparring partner was refering to.

_(Earlier that day)_

This morning, like the one, when Sakura had first bragged about being right about the Toad-woman, the pink-haired medic had slammed the wizards' newspaper down on the table with an irritated grunt. The rest of the team had looked at her strangely, which led her to growl at them to "read the damn newspaper" and, at once, it had been passed from one to the other until it landed in her former sensei's lap. Said lazy ANBU Captain had raised an eyebrow as he read through the article:

Eductional Decree Number 23

All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded. An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.

Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge). No Student Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

_The above is in accordance with Education Decree Number Twenty-three_  
_Signed by Dolores Jane Umbridge_

Sasuke, who had been at the other end of the room, making sure the Slytherins didn't try anything, not to mention looking for a reason to make them suffer- he hadn't taken their hostility, and sick jokes towards Sakura well- had come over, once said girl's growl resounded through the room. Kakashi gave him the newspaper, waiting for some kind of indifferent 'hn', but instead got something that almost made him choke on his coffee.

"Can I please,_ please_ tsukonomi her into next week?" the bluish-haired boy asked.

Everyone looked at him in utter shock. Not so much for what he wanted to do to the annoying woman- hell, everyone found himself smirking sardistically at the idea- but the fact that he said the magical word, and twice even, was more than enough to sent them into cardiac arrest. Jumping, Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his long-time rival and best friend, giving way to tormented sounds coming from his throat.

"Okay, who are you, and what did you do to _teme_?!?" he shouted so loud, the Great Hall turned silent to watch.

'_Great, Naruto, just what we needed so early in the morning,'_ Kakashi sighed inwardly.

"Fox, sit down. You're being troublesome."

"But he's acting weird!" Naruto insisted, against Shikamaru's better judgement. "He must be a spy or something. _Teme_ would never ever say 'please', and you know that!"

"Shut up, Fox!", Sakura snapped at him, before putting a hand firmly on his shoulder, and shoving him back into his seat. Then she turned to her childhood-crush, who had given her a grateful growl. "Are you feeling alright? You aren't sick, are you?"

She was about to slip her hand under his mask to feel, if he was having a fever, when her ex-sensei cleared his throat to get his junior officers' attention.

"Do as you wish, Raven," was all he said, before disappearing behind some book on western magic. His team knew however that that was merely a cover for his beloved orange companion. It wasn't that, that shocked them, however. Their team leader had been acting weird for quite a while now and, though it had died down a little since both Sayuri and Sakura talked to him, he still had his out-of-character moments, when he made his friends and comrades and former students worry.

This was one of these moments.

"Troublesome. I'll go find Cat, maybe she can talk some sense into him," Shikamaru muttered, lazily rising into a standing position, before turning back to the blue-haired ANBU. "And until then, you won't do anything, Raven. It would be too troublesome, if we had to clean the bloody mess afterwards."

"Tsukonomi doesn't inflict any physical wounds."

"No, but she might go insane, and hurt herself."

With that, he walked away, leaving a very unhappy Uchiha.

_(Back to the present)_

This was, what led him here with his Cat-masked comrade now. She had asked him to have a sparring session with her, and since the kids were perfectly safe at the moment, he had agreed easily. From the moment they had lowered into fighting stance until she gave that comment on the Toad-woman's 'troublesomeness', she had lectured him about the permission, he had given to Sasuke. She had done it gently and in a soft voice, so that it sounded more like a suggestion than like the reproach it really was, but that didn't change his feelings about it. He didn't like to be reproached. He was an adult, goddammit! He knew, what he did.

To evade another one of her more lethal blows at his chest, he let himself fall to the ground, extending a leg, and swirling around. She easily jumped over it, and he made a quick flip to land on the surface of the lake a few meters behind him. He stood there, perfectly still, except for his hands, that were moving in a frenzy to get the seals done. By her bewildered posture, she was amazed at how fast he was able to do the seals. Not that she hadn't seen it before, they had trained a lot together during the last year, when she wasn't allowed to go on missions, but it still amazed her every time. He worked so fast, she hardly caught the single seals even with her Byakugan activated.

When he was done, the seal he was holding up was 'Tori', the bird…

"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu," he stated calmly, yet menacingly.

A second later she was washed away by the powerful jutsu, only to be smashed against the trunk of a tree at the borders of the Forbidden Forest. A grunt could be heard, and then the sound of metal hitting wood, when four kunai pinned her to the tree. A smirk made it's way across her face, one he couldn't see obviously, but by the way he was frantically looking around, he had already realized that his jutsu hadn't hit her.

Her water clone was curretly falling into a puddle of liquid.

Turning around, when he felt her presence behind him, he got a full blow at his armor-covered chest. The hit sent his body flying, but it wasn't long before it turned out to be a log. And when a kunai hit Sayuri's arm, she poofed away, because it had only been a shadow clone, leaving the meadow infront of the castle devoid of people- except for a few fourth-years that had completely forgotten about their Care for Magical Creature's class, they should be having right now.

Who could blame them, when two elites clashed right infront of them?!?

Sayuri almost laughed at them, when she suddenly felt herself falling from the tree, she had been hiding in, the weight of another body on her. She smirked. It was a shadow clone, she was sure. Kakashi wasn't stupid enough to get this close to a Juuken-user, when he could avoid it with his numerous long-range technigues. Turning slightly, she rammed her palm into his chest, and, as expected, his figure dissolved into a puff of smoke. Catching herself, she landed on her two feet, true to her codename. A kunai flew past her, as she threw her head back to avoid it. She caught it before it hit the ground, and threw it back to where she could see the real Copy Nin with her bloodline limit.

With another jump, she was back in the middle of the meadow, giving up her cover, but also his. If he wanted to attack her from close, or afar, she would see it coming long before it reached her, and could either dodge it, or repell it. Her theory was proved right, when she saw a set of kunai, and shuriken emerge from the Forbidden Forest. Starting to spin, she used her Kaiten to deflect the attack. When she stopped, however, he was quick to be directly infront of her, one arm draped over her shoulder, his hand holding the katana that was once strapped onto his back. The point was lightly grazing the spot right under her shoulder blade.

"_I win,"_ He whispered, triumphantly.

"_I'd call it a tie,"_ she replied casually, digging the kunai, she was holding to his kidneys a little harder into his armor, so he could feel the blade.

"_We could murder her in her sleep?!"_ he suggested, changing topic, without stepping out of their semi-embrace.

"_I've had enough of assasinations for a while,"_ she murmured more to herself, than to him. Kakashi didn't answer, instead giving her time to continue, if she so wished. _"My whole mission was about killing- killing, and spying. The latter was easy. It was done within the first year after I gained the trust of the people. Which took me quite a while even after…I better start at the beginning! I had been ordered to infiltrate, and eliminate one cell of a civilian crime organization called the Yakuza. To do so, I had to marry one of them. To my luck- or not- the boss of said cell found interest in me, so I got in easily. That's why I was labeled a missing-nin, anyway. So as not to raise suspicion. It took me a little to gather all the information needed, even with all the sneaking around I did, and my blood-trait. To understand this, you need to know, that they didn't meet inside his residence, preferring an old bunker instead. Only the most important people were allowed in there. Only the people, I had to kill. Sounds easy, hm? But believe me, it wasn't. Their security was very high. They hired elite shinobi for every meeting, and without knowing anything about their abilities, I couldn't risk an attack. At least not on my own. Unfortunately for me, they hired different shinobi from different villages for every meeting, so it was hard to gather enough info, before the meeting was over. Over two years had passed by the time, I finally accepted that I would have to do something reckless- which is your speciatly, really- but then I…got distracted… When I, at long last, completed my task over a year later, I had to flee to escape the whole army of assasins, the organization sent after me. Whenever they found me, I had to kill them, in hopes that they would get tired one day. Six years…gods, six years of doing nothing else…"_

She leaned her head onto his shoulder, facing his throat. He could feel her breath, when she started to tell him the story of her past ten years.

"_What got you distracted?" _the silver-haired ANBU asked gently. Sayuri tensed for a moment, apparently contemplating, whether or not to tell him. She came to the conclusion that she could tell him the whole story, since she had started out already.

"_You remember, how you met me in that clearing, when you were sent on the retrival-mission?"_

"_Hm,"_ he hummed.

"Well, you don't, however, know, what happened an hour or so before…"

**333**

Flashback

_Lonely._

_The mansion looked lonely, the way it was standing so apart from the village below, a tiny slice of Forest separating it further. In summer you could hardly see the giant building complex from the town. They were in the middle of a harsh winter now, though. The sky was grey with the clouds that closed over it, snow softly falling from the fluffy things as a lone woman made her way towards the front gates of the luxurious compound. She wore rather ratty pants and a shirt of simple linen and a dark blue scarf over her head around her shoulders… How she didn't freeze in the cold was a mystery. Leisurely strolling towards the gate, unhurried, unconcerned, she looked almost like a normal beggar, aiming to snatch something fancy by the pity of rich people. Drawing their weapons at first, the guards soon relaxed, and one even got a little cocky._

"Can we help you?" _he asked in a slippery tone, his eyes roaming her body appreciatively._

"Yeah, get out of my way_," she hissed back at them, raising her face, so they could see her pearl-white gaze._

"You!" _The guards snapped, and immediately, Sayuri had two guns pointing at her head._

_She smiled, mockingly._

_Six years. Six years of running from the Yakuza's assasins (not to mention quite a few hunter-nin), leading them further, and further away from her home. She had lured them away, and set up deadly traps only a shinobi would notice. Quite a few of them had lost their lifes this way. Sometimes they got to her, and she finished them off with her own two hands. Once in a while, they would get a halfway good shot, and she would need to heal herself. This, in the end, had led her to learn more about medical ninjutsu. Sure, she'd already known the basics, what with her partner always tending to get back with the worst injuries, and just plain-out refusing to go to a hospital… But, for her own sake, and for others, because she couldn't normally affort to set a foot into a village, she decided to learn a few more tricks, mostly by extending the technigues she already knew. Sometimes, her injuries were so severe, or she was so tired of running that she entered a village, and let herself be taken care of. Of course, those villages were hidden ones- Ninja Villages- because not even the best, most arrogant civilian killer would be stupid enough to attack a town full of shinobi! This way she rested for a while, before continuing on her silent crusade, killing off any man, or woman that came after her for six years._

_Six long years, and she was still alive. Did these guards really think, they could accomplish, what dozens of assasins weren't able to do. With guns, no less?!?_

"Don't say, I never asked nicely," _she said with a smug smirk. She was well-rested now, too, seeing as she had retired in a neutral Hidden Village for the weeks before._

_Faster than any of the two men could see, the arm of the cocky guard was in her grasp, her other hand fisted as she elbowed his face. Semi-turning, she threw him over her shoulder at his bewildered companion, and sent them both to the ground. Before they could even hit the snow-covered earth, however, she sent a couple of senbon after them, and walked away. Sayuri didn't need to stay, and watch to know, she would hit the first man in his kidneys, and the other in his aorta artery. They wouldn't pose a problem again._

_Without further ado, she strolled on, slowly walking through the courtyard. It was beautiful under the untouched snow, she knew. It had been her garden to work in. She had had to do something other than spying, and plotting her 'husband's' death or she would've gone insane, she knew. Crossing the bridge, she found her target already waiting for her. Her last target, the last human being she had to kill- on this mission anyway. He stood there, looking at her stubbornly, accusingly, and seemingly trying to fight the panic that was spreading through his system at seeing her figure._

"You're the one who killed my father!" _the little boy shouted._

"Yes."

"You're going to kill me, too, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"But why?" _he asked like the spoiled little brat he was._ "Together, we could do so much better. Achieve so much. We could take over, and rule the underground. No one would dare opposing us!"

"There, you just pointed it out yourself. You're a threat to my village. They've already poisoned you," _Sayuri replied, emotionlessly._

_She looked at the the little boy for a moment longer. Her pale gaze bore into his own, his white eyes clouding over with grey as fear took him. The boy had realized that there was no way out, she was going to kill him, no matter what he could offer her. The Hyuuga-woman reached a hand out, when suddenly a servant came bursting through a door._

"Don't touch him!" _the woman yelled at her._

_Sayuri lifted her gaze to see Karen, one of the house-maids running towards them. She came to a halt behind the boy._

"Don't you touch him!" _she growled._

_Sayuri smiled, a sincere smile. __She wasn't unhappy to see the chubby, dark-haired grandma again. This woman, and her conversations with her had kept the kunoichi sane, during her extended period at this place. Especially, when her late 'husband' had once again come to her quarters over night. Everytime Sayuri had felt disgusted with herself, degraded, and abused by his groping hands, and what else. Karen's gentleness, and the way she could smile in any situation, no matter how bad, had always helped to brighten up her day. Now, however, she found the violet eyes of her little helper glare at her. She should be unhappy, the brown-haired woman knew, but she couldn't bring herself to feel anything- literally._

_She was numb, numb from all the killing._

"Leave, Karen. It's in your best interest," _she warned the older woman._

_The black-haired housemaid was about to answer something, when another voice interrupted her._

"Sayuri-sama!"

_The kunoichi lifted her head. Takeru, her 'husband's' captain, was standing in the door, Karen had burst through a moment ago. It seemed to the shinobi that she was destinied to encounter all of the few people, she'd come to hold dear in this compound, while being around to spill her own blood. Sayuri knew that Takeru had taken a likening to her from the first moment on. Her exotic lookings, and untamed personality that made her so different from the other women in the mansion, had intrigued him, but she had never regarded him as anything but… a friend, in the best-case-scenario. As he stood there, he frowned at her, and slipped a hand to his gun to defend his former lord's son. (There was probably a new leader by now, another cell taking over, but the Hyuuga could not care less)_

"Don't. You know, you can't beat me, and I don't want to hurt you. I'm not here for you, but I will not show either of you any mercy, if you decide to become a bother," _she told him silently, but firmly. She then reached out for the boy again, who was still standing there, seemingly ready to face death. She was going to take the life of a seven year old boy. And not just any boy, but her son. _

_Her son._

_Patting the boy's head, she took a long moment to gaze at him for one last time._

"What mother would kill her own child?!?" _Karen yelled at her, trying to reason with her, maybe, but knowing it was futile._

"A shinobi mother," _Sayuri dead-panned, letting the accumulated amount of deadly chakra burst from her hand, and into the child's head, killing the boy immediately._

_At least there was no pain._

_That was all, she could do for him._

_The boy slumped, and she caught him, crouching down. She didn't cry, didn't sob. Her body didn't tremble, her hands didn't shake as she pressed his head against her chest in a silent goodbye. She had learned to surpress all those things, accomodating the rule number 25 of the Shinobi Code never to show emotion. Yet, to the man, and the woman with her in the courtyard, it was all too apparent that she was weeping. By the way her hands clutched at the lifeless body. By the way, she kissed the top of her son's head, and leaned her cheek against his soft brown hair; he had been the very image of her, nothing of his appereance reminding of his father. By the way her chest heaved with all the sobs, she was swallowing. And finally by the way, her pearl-white eyes suddenly seemed to lose their brilliance, and took on the same colour as the clouds above._

"Bring some wood, Karen."

"What are you planning?" _Takeru asked her. The old housemaid refused to move._

"Bring me the damn wood, Karen!" _Sayuri half-shouted, half-growled at her, and it sounded so dangerous that the female servant completely forgot that she was angry at the kunoichi, and scurried off to fulfill her wish. In the meantime, Sayuri layed her son down onto the soft bed, the snow provided, and took out a scalpel, she had buyed for this special occasion. As she set to work, she couldn't help but notice, how Takeru averted his eyes in disgust. His hands slid to his gun again. She smiled knowingly at him. He wouldn't try anything. He knew, when he had to give up. Putting everything away, she waited for Karen to come with the wood._

"The guards will have heard Karen-san scream. They'll be here soon," _Takeru warned her._

"I don't care."

"They'll kill you."

"Hardly," _she laughed._ "And even if, I don't care."

"Sayuri-sama-"

"I just killed my son, my own flesh and blood, Takeru! Do you really think I value my life anymore?!?" _Sayuri hissed, her voice full of venom, and disgust, but finally __**feeling**__._

"…Just tell me, what you want to do and I'll do it for you, so you can go," _the Yakuza agent replied with a hint of frustration in his voice. She had been right, he did like her a lot more than he was supposed to._

"No," _she stated simply, and before he could say another word, Karen was back. Arranging the wood under, and around her son's body, she raced through a set of seals, and used a fire-jutsu to set the improvised pyre on fire. She didn't hear the sound of the many feet approaching, or the click of their guns, or even the rustling of knifes, and swords. All she could hear, while staring into the flames, was the agoniezed cry of a little boy dying in the flames, so as if he would still be alive. She clutched the tiny leather bag at her side, before finally ripping her gaze off the stake, and confronting the gang members. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes still held that darkness that had overcome them. When she spoke, her voice was so low, even in the deadly silent courtyard it was hard to understand her words._

"One last dance, huh?" _she asked them, her weak voice laced with mockery._

_As if it was the signal to attack, the men surrounding the kunoichi jumped at her with loud shouts, and irritated grunts. Fending off the bullets, and knifes with her Kaiten, she started to finish off her opponents with one thrust of her palm, not in the mood to deal with them any longer. Besides, she could feel the chakra-signatures approaching the compound, and wanted to be done, and out of here, before they arrived. Wouldn't it be for one aura in particular, she would want to flee, as they were all very powerful, but this one aura made her not even consider that. _

_She knew it so well. She knew __**him**__ so well. When the Yondaime first introduced them to each other, he just wanted to make them socialize as both of them couldn't really bond with their pals. He was the ten-year-old, by-the-book kind of shinobi, who found his team mates most annoying, and she was the first kid to graduate from Academy at age five since him. Both of them surpassed the average shinobi of their age group, and even some of the older ones. They were socially awkward, and easily bored because of this, and just didn't get along with anyone. Yondaime, at that time actually still only his sensei, had hoped for them to bond, because of this. Unfortunately for him, they had hated each other, when they first met, standing a good distance away from one another, and giving the opposite party a once-over, frowns on their faces. Meanwhile a smiling Minato-sensei stood in the room between them, telling them they would be working closely together. _

_Neither her, nor him had been very happy at that revelation, but had respectively given their nods of agreement- not that they had much of a choice anyway. At first uneasy around each other, they soon found out that they had much more in common, than they first thought. This way, they became friends, really good friends. They spent endless time together, and even had some missions with each other, and through the fun, and games they had, she had felt him growing on her. However, she had easily dismissed that as a silly little-girl crush that she would grow out of sooner or later. But it wasn't meant to be, as with the passing years, her feelings for him deepened, and intensified. She wouldn't confess, though. She didn't want to ruin their friendship, because of her rose-coloured illusions._

_Then, one day, she got _that_ kind of mission…_

_She knew, she had to do do it, but that didn't mean, she had to like it. To destroy a pedophilic ring, and save the daughter of a wealthy client, they needed to infiltrate it, so he was supposed to offer her as an article. He, now nineteen years old, didn't like that as much as she didn't, but it was by no means optional this time; Konoha needed the money. And it was possible that she had to partake in sexual actions, before he would be able to locate, and safe the young girl, but she didn't want to lose her virginity to some perverted, dirty, old man. So, that evening, she came to was unfair, and she knew he would be disgusted with himself afterwards… but he was the only one she could turn to! When he asked her why, she evaded the answer by replying that he would be gentle, and take care, not to harm her, while those people wouldn't. He had seen through her lie, though, like he always did. She couldn't hide anything from him, it was as if he could read everything in her milky eyes, while others had problems even noticing, what she was looking at._ _He had seen through her deceit, and smiled, giving her a gentle_ "Okay" _as an answer, while conveying so much more._

_As she stepped out of the circle of dead bodies surrounding her,battered and bruised, but alive, her thoughts caught up with the present. His aura was so very close now. She walked out of the gates again, one of the few survivors sending an arrow after her, in hopes that the silent projectile would catch her off-guard, but she just side-stepped it, and sent a kunai back that hit the man directly in the eye. He fell over dead, and she disappeared in the snowy weather. Takeru didn't even attempt to stop her. Sayuri put one feet infront of another without faltering or rush, yet she couldn't possibly feel more anxious. What would he think of her now? After ten years? And what would he think of her, once he found out, that she had murdered her own son? Would he think her disgusting? Would he feel repulsed by merely looking at her? Her heart sank a little at these thoughts._

_And then she saw him._

_He stood in the clearing, not even a full five meters away from her, and her heart made a jump. He was wearing his ANBU uniform, his face covered by the porcelain Wolf-maks, she knew so well. Her breath hitched. If he was here as ANBU, had he been sent to kill her? After finishing off the last assasin coming after her and before returning here, she had sent a message to the Godaime- oh, yes, she had taken notice of the change in leaders in her home village, even though being away for so long. In her message, she had asked for permission to come back home. Sayuri knew, she would sent someone to retrieve her in any case, but ANBU?!? This was a little disconcerning…_

_Sensing her distress, like he always had, Kakashi reached out as if to cup her cheek, but seemed to think better of it, and rested his hand on her shoulder instead. Giving her a scrutinizing look, she knew, his eyes rested on the leather bag that was bound loosely to a belt around her waist. She could almost see him quirking up an eyebrow, but didn't dare using her bloodline-limit, in case they might decide it could be a sign of attack on her part. And Sayuri just wanted to go home. When his hand squeezed her shoulder lightly in comfort, she remembered, how she had stayed away from any man, she'd come across, and that had showed any interest in her other than wanting to slaughter her. She even went as far as growling menacingly, or even Juuken-ing them, if they got too close. Yet, with him, it seemed, that didn't matter. She didn't find his touch to be awkward, or unwanted, no, it was warm, and in-place, and for some reason, she just wanted to sling her arms around his neck, and forget._

_Forget, that they were on a meadow not far from the place, where she killed her child, and instead imagine, she was just waking up in his strong arms. Imagine, not to untangle herself from his sleeping form to stand up, and meet the Sandaime one last time, before her mission. Imagine, that she hadn't given the Sandaime a letter that explained, how she took this mission to get away from her family. Imagine, her brother, Hizashi, hadn't sacrificed himself for a clan that treated him like dirt, and that she hadn't been waiting for an opportunity to flee for a while._

_Imagine, those ten years between them didn't exist!_

_And maybe, she would have succeeded, if it weren't for the other three ANBU on the field. A pink-haired, female ANBU lieutenant, and two ANBU soldiers, one with blonde, and one with bluish hair…_

End of Flashback

There was a moment of silence after she finished.

"_What was in the leather bag? You threw it infront of Hiashi's feet, when we got back, before walking on to the Godaime's office,"_ his voice asked one of the questions that had been plagueing him for quite a while.

Sayuri took a deep breath, before responding.

"_His eyes. His Byakugan."_

"…_What was his name?"_

"_I…I don't know. I had to flee shortly after his birth, the name hadn't been decided by then, and I didn't ask later on. God, Wolf, I killed my own son!_ _How could I possibly ask for his name when his face comes haunting me at night already?!?"_

Sheathing his katana, Kakashi stroked the kunoichi's head gently, combing through her brown locks, sighing at the weight of the information, she had revealed and wondering, how the hell, she managed not to stir crazy with this knoledge. Taking the kunai out of her numb hand, he pocketed it, too. Flying through the necessary seals, he 'poofed' them away from prying eyes, so she would let herself cry the tears, he knew, she had been holding for so long, too long.

**333333**

In the following days many rather intresting things happened. Some, were funny- like Umbridge inspecting Snape's class- others were annoying- like Trelawney's hysterical reaction to her grade at the Toad-woman's test- and some were outright concerning- like the attack on Harry Potter's owl or the fact that the kids still wanted to go through with their little rebellion. Deer muttered a "Troublesome" each time, he thought about it, which was starting to be troublesome in itself. Fortunately, the students hadn't found a room yet, and hopefully never would, so the guards didn't have to worry about anything at the moment. What they did have to worry about was the second appereance of Sirius Black's head in the Griffindor fireplace as he wanted to talk with Hogwarts' Golden Trio about their little idea. If the ANBU had hoped, he would talk some sense into them, they had been proved wrong immediately, and had grumbling raised to leave the Common Room, when they heard the brats gasp. Looking back, they noticed thick fingers searching around the fire. Fingers, that obviously belonged to the Toad-woman.

Sighing, they ushered the kids upstairs, so Umbridge wouldn't find out about their little talk with the former prisoner of Askaban.

A day later, this led to a discussion between the kids, because Hermione suddenly doubted her own idea. She was persuaded, though, that they did the right thing, and so nothing came out of it. In the afternoon, Harry found his scar to hurt, while training for the upcoming Quidditch match and when asked, what happened, by Ron, he told his best friend and Fox, who had been with him during training, that apparently Voldemort wanted something to be done and was furious, because it wasn't happening fast enough. Naruto listened for a moment, but then dismissed it. Genma and Yamato had already briefed them about this weeks ago. Still, he found the fact, that Harry felt a Dark Wizard's inner feelings through a scar kind of concerning, no matter that they had been briefed on this at the beginning of the year. That same evening, a house-elf, Harry apparently knew, told him of the Room of Requierment, where the young rebels could train their magic.

'_Why, oh why do these things always happen to me?' _Shikamaru inwardly groaned that evening, as he sat with the three Griffindors. Each guard seemed to think that way of themselves…

And it were Naruto and Neji, who had the dubious pleasure of accompanying Hogwarts' Golden Trio to their very first session. One after another the students who had signed in for this foolish adventure, appeared in the magical room, leaving the two frustrated ANBU to sigh and huff, which didn't go unheard, but un-acknoledged as all of them were too deep into this to back down now.

"Well," Harry greeted them. "This will be the room, where we will train. I hope, you all can appreciate it-"

"It's fantastic!" the chinese-looking girl, Cho, interrupted and both guards could see Harry swell with pride at the praise.

"Well, I've thought about what we should do first and- well, yeah, Hermione?"

"I think, we should vote a leader."

"Harry is our leader!" Cho immediately chimed.

Neji grunted, annoyed. Naruto sighed. He was bored.

"Yes, but a vote would make it more…official, don't you think?" the bushy-haired girl answered, slightly flushed. So, they voted and when Hermione suggested giving their group a name, they thought hard about it.

'_This isn't good,'_ both ANBU thought.

"How about Anti-Umbridge-League?" Angelina Johnson suggested. Hermione reprimanded, that it was too obvious. They needed something, that wouldn't sound suspicious, when they talked about it.

"What about Defence-Alliance?" Cho asked. "And D.A. as abbreviation, so nobody knows, what we're talking about."

"Yeah, D.A. is really a good idea," Ginny Weasley spoke up. "But it should stand for 'Dumbledore's Army', because that's, what the Ministry of Magic fears, right?!?"

_'Oh, dear Kami, no!'_

However, Neji's, and Naruto's thoughts ( yes, Naruto has enough common sense to be concerned, he is not that dumb, you know :)could not be heard and so it was decided that the students named their rebellion 'Dumbledore's Army', and Hermione even wrote it onto the parchment above all the name on the list. Finally having sorted that out, Harry suggested practicing the 'Expelliarmus'-spell, which was received with an indignant snort by none other than Zacharias Smith, who doubted that that charm would help anything against You-Know-Who, or his Death Eaters.

"Well, that spell safed my life last summer," Harry replied coldly, and from then on, there was no arguing about it anymore. "Okay, let's get this started. I'll count up until three and then you'll cast the spell, okay? One…Two…Three."

Different shouts of "Expelliarmus" could be heard throughout the room. Eagle, and Fox quickly retreated up to the ceiling in order to dodge the many red flashes flying throughout the room. Harry walked around a little, watching his students do the magic, and giving a little help to those, who needed it. Turned out, it was a good idea to let them practice the most basic spell as he saw quite a few of them go wrong. Walking through the room, he noticed that every time, Zacharias Smith tried to disarm Anthony Goldstein, his wand flew out of his hands, but Anthony didn't seem to say a word. One of the guards, Eagle, got his attention by clearing his throat. Meanwhile, Fox was laughing his ass off about something. Looking up, he saw the brown-haired man point at a spot behind him. Turning, he saw that Fred and George were jinxing Zacharias from behind his back, sabotaging every try, the boy gave at disarming his opponent. When caught, they chuckled a "Sorry, Harry, couldn't resist…" and went back to practicing themselves. Ginny practiced with Michael Corner. She was pretty good, and Michael was either really sucking or he just didn't want to hurt Ginny. All the while, he tried avoiding Cho Chang, who was practicing with her friend Marietta Edgecomb. When he couldn't ignore her anymore, and walked towards her, he noticed, that suddenly she seemed unable to even say the word 'Expelliarmus', by one of her misspellings setting fire to Marietta's robes, who in turn looked at Harry, as if this was completely his fault.

"Oh, don't mind her. She doesn't even want to be here, her mother forbid her to do anything that could anger Umbridge," she said. "But really, I was good at it, before you came. You distracted me."

"It wasn't half bad… No okay, it was terrible, but I saw you out of the corner of my eye before, so I know, you can do it."

"Chrm, " came Naruto's voice from the ceiling, as Luna Lovegood was already halfway into an animated speech about what crimes Fudge committed. "It's getting late, which is troublesome as Deer would put it, and good kids should go to bed now."

The students sweatdropped, but agreed when Harry sent them out the door.

**333333**

The ANBU had held absolutely no interest in that stupid little game two weeks later that intrigued the wizards so much, but could not help but go, seeing as they had to protect everyone. When the Slytherin sang their disgusting song about Ron Weasley, Sakura almost went over to them, from where she stood in the Griffindor part, to punch some sense into them, but was stopped by her silver-haired sensei. The man shook his head, pointing to Sasuke, who was already ruffling the singers' heads so hard it was definitely painful. They stopped singing imediately, but Malfoy took his chance of insulting both Harry, and the Weasleys, after the game was over, which led them to attack the blonde brat. The guards had to interfere and afterwards accompanied them to McGonnagall's office, where Umbridge informed them about another Eductional Decree:

_The High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions, and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions, and removals of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members._

Signed by Cornelius Fudge, the Ministry of Magic

This led to Harry, Fred and George losing their right to play Quidditch for lifetime. Kakashi had to admit that the Toad-woman was getting annoying now, and he really wished, he hadn't given in to Cat's persuading skills, and forbidden Sasuke to use his Tsukonomi on the insufferable teacher… The only thing comforting the Golden Trio was that apparently their original teacher for Care of Magical Creature seemed to have returned that evening. They planned to visit him the next day, right after the Copy Nin's Taijutsu class.

The only class, not yet inspected by the High Inquisitor…

Well, that was about to change, it seemed, because, when the students gathered on the field inbetween the lake and the Forbidden Forest, to wait for the ever-late Wolf, they found not only Raven, Cat and Lynx waiting with them, but a very up-to-something-looking Dolores Jane Umbridge as well…

**End of chapter!**

**A/N: It's the first chapter in a long time(too long, even in my opinion), but I hope you liked it. Please leave a review!**


	12. Hagrid and the Dream

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**A/N: Beta-ed by Hoshi Light. Thank you very much!**

**Hikigaeru means Toad**

**Chapter 12: Hagrid and the Dream**

„Why don't you begin the class, my dear?" Umbridge asked the Cat-masked guard in her sweetest voice that made all three of the shinobi cringe ever so slightly.

"Wolf teaches the class," was the only answer she got from the brown-haired woman.

The Toad-woman immediately began to scribble something on her papers. Sayuri prayed that Kakashi would hurry up for once in his lifetime. Not because of the evaluation, the 'Pink Punk' would give him for his lateness alone, but because she couldn't stand waiting alone with this woman anymore. Sure, there was Sakura, and Sasuke, and the kids, but due to the Toad-woman's company it seemed like any other presence was wiped away.

"Well, Wolf is obviously ill, or he would've been here already, no?"

A corner of Sayuri's mouth twitched, and she couldn't help, but notice that it was the same for the students infront of them. The brats had gotten used to the silver-haired man's tardiness by now, as well as to his lame excuses. For some reason, though, they still showed up on time for the official beginning of class. Neji's aunt let her gaze wander over to where her pink- and blue-haired comrades stood at a safe distance from the annoying High Inquisitor. Sakura's hand was twitching at her side, as if it was just dying to hold her stomach while she laughed out loud at the Toad's ignorance- or to punch her, who knew. Sasuke was motionless as ever, but Sayuri was sure, if she activated her Byakugan, she would be able to see a smirk on his face.

"My dear?" Umbridge repeated.

'_I swear, if she calls me that one more time, I'll…'_ the brown-haired woman thought, but kept quiet.

Instead, it was Sakura, who answered.

"No worries, _hikigaeru_. Sensei is always fashionably late to everything."

"You call half an hour 'fashionably late' ?!?"

"For sensei, that's being early."

Some of the kids couldn't hold it anymore, and started laughing out loud, just as a puff of smoke appeared, and out came the aforementioned lazy teacher himself.

"Sorry, I'm late, guys," he told them, without even waiting to be asked, and immediately everyone snapped to attention, curious, as to what story he would tell them today, "I was actually on my way here, when I saw a cat being stuck on a very high closet. Being the animal-lover that I am, I had to help the poor thing, but then-"

"Liar!" Lynx shouted at him, before he had even finished.

Wolf rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, before turning back to the kids, and motioning for them to follow him. Standing up from their seated position on the meadow, they walked behind him at a leisure pace. When they arrived at the confines of the Forbidden Forest, Umbridge made another note to herself. The Hogwarts' students wondered, what Wolf could be wanting here, but feared the answer way too much to ask. The silver-haired male turned to face them, and, seeing the panic in their eyes, he chuckled lightly before reassuring them.

"We won't go in there… Yet!" he told the gaping group of teenagers.

At the last word, a shiver ran down the children's spines.

Their teacher chuckled again.

"Today, we'll do something completely different, from the other lessons. I confered with my fellow ANBU, and we came to the conclusion that you might find it helpful some day. Therefore, during this class, you'll practice, how to tree-walk," Kakashi announced to the brats, cheerfully.

"Chrm, chrm."

"Tree-walking looks very easy, but is actually pretty difficult to learn, because you need perfect control of your energy. Most likely, you will need some more lessons to learn it properly, unless you are a natural. In such a large group, there'll probably be a few naturals. Don't be surprised, if those are most likely only girls. Girls in general are better at chakra control than boys. It's passed down genetically. Like males have more stamina, and are genrally stronger, females have better control over their body's energy," he explained calmly.

"Chrm, chrm."

Ignoring her again, Kakashi continued. "It won't be easy, and with the skill you can achieve in such a limited amount of time, it wouldn't be of any use against people like us, but if you use it to get away from a wizard, you should have no trouble making your escape, especially if he doesn't have his broom with him."

"Chrm, chrm!"

The third time, Sakura snapped:

"If you have a cold, you should stay inside, _hikigaeru_."

The pink-wearing woman huffed indignantly, writing something into her notes, before turning back to Wolf. The silver-haired male contemplated ignoring her again, but decided against it. The sooner this was done, the sooner she would- hopefully- leave them in peace.

"Yes?" said man asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

"I was just wondering, what good it would do the kids to learn such… well, nonsense?" the Toad-woman asked sweetly. Those, who looked closely, could see Kakashi roll his shoulders a little, as if trying to shake of that bittersweet sound, and set himself free again.

"Nonsense?" the silver-haired male asked, "This 'nonsense', as you call it, has saved my life quite a few times, simply because I was faster than my enemy."

"But these are children, they don't have any enemies!" Umbridge insisted.

"So, you're telling me the outer world is perfectly safe for them?" Wolf shot back lazily.

"Ah, I see, you've been misled to believe that a certain dark wizard has returned-"

This time, it was Sasuke, who interrupted the small woman.

"Regardless, of whether or not, this Voldemort-guy (flinch) is back- and our intelligence says, he is- the world is never completely safe. There will always be vicious people, who'd find an easy prey in an unprepared child. We can not afford, not to teach the youth how to defend themselves, or at least escape an ill-meaning opponent unharmed."

"Right," Sayuri agreed, "…now, let's get back to business!"

"Thanks." Kakashi nodded to them, before turning to one of the trees. "What I want you to do, is concentrate your energy on your feet, and then," Here he put a foot on the trunk, "just put one feet infront of the other." He walked up the tree, until he was hanging upside down from a branch. Taking out a small, english book from his pocket, he began reading his beloved Icha Icha, without having the kids notice. Again.

The other guards just shook their heads at him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Cat asked a moment later. "Go, pick a tree."

"But we could fall, and break our bones!" Draco Malfoy shouted.

"I'll break them for sure, if you don't do as she said, right now," Lynx threatened him with a shaking fist.

"First," Kakashi's voice came from above, " if you're smart, you won't walk up too high, the first few times you actually succeed at getting anywhere. Secondly, you'll share a tree with at least three other people, who would look out for you, if you weren't such an annoying sissy. And thirdly, do you really think we'll just sit by, and drink coffee?!? If you fall, we'll be there to catch you- that is, unless you annoy me further... Now off you go."

With that reassurance, and quite a bit of snickering from the Griffindors, the students dispersed. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville chose a tree near their pink-haired friend. Under the impression that the young woman was actually smiling at them, they started their exercises. Neville tried first, but fell on his butt as soon as he tried to make the first step up the trunk. Lynx helped him up gently, explaining, that he needed a certain amount of energy to stick to the bark, and he just didn't use enough. As Neville walked to stand at the end of the line to wait for his next opportunity, Harry and Hermione jumped out of the way of a backwards flying Ron. The redhead bumped into Neville, ripping the poor boy off his feet. They landed in the grass with a loud thump, and the pink-haired guard laughing at them full-heartedly.

"You used too much energy, Ronald, " she told him in between giggles.

"Found a love-interest, Weasley?" Malfoy's voice taunted, while the two boys tried desperately to disentangle their limbs.

Sakura's head turned in his direction immediately.

Malfoy gulped.

Then he noticed the kunai embedded in the trunk beside his head.

"The next time, I'll aim at your body, bastard, " she growled lowly at him.

"How dare you?!?" came the horrified shout of the High Inquisitor. "How dare you threaten and attack an innocent child, you-"

"Innocent, my ass," the girl replied in a hiss.

"You! You…"

"I?"

"You little s-"

"That's enough," Wolf barked at them. "Lynx, there is no need for such violence… and you, High Inquisitor, I think you should go back inside the castle, because if we hear one more word from you, I won't be able to guarantee for my comrades' behaviour!" With a growl of her own that sounded suspiciously like "We'll finish this another day!", the Toad-woman scurried off, and the silver-haired teacher told them to continue, just as a loud, female shout could be heard throughout the field:

"I did it!"

Everyone turned to see that Hermione had apparently made good use of the little argument between Umbridge and the guards, and practiced, instead of listening. She was now sitting on the highest branch of their tree and waving down at them, a very pleased smile on her features. Dangling her feet in the air, she blushed as she noticed that her little shout had gotten her everyone's attention. Raising her hands, Sakura applauded her, saying something about a great similarity between the girl and herself. To which Kakashi agreed, explaining that the pink-haired woman had been a natural as well.

Then, their teacher chuckled.

"Just how do you plan on getting back down, though?" he asked, amused. He knew, there was a difference between going up, and walking down a trunk, especially if you suffered vertigo from the altitude. After all, you had to look straight at the ground, when coming down from a tree, and that wasn't everyobody's favorite part of the exercise.

"Uh oh, " Hermione murmured, blushing an even deeper shade of red.

Apparently, she was one of those candidates.

"Wait right there, I'll help you down," Sakura announced, but found, that Sasuke was already there, taking the girl's arm, and lifting her to her feet, "Oh, well, he'll walk you down then. Don't worry, if you fall, I'll catch you for sure, even if Raven misses you."

She winked behind her mask.

That earned her a dirty look, and an indignant huff from said blue-haired boy. Slowly, Sasuke guided the panicking girl down the trunk, step by step, until they reached the ground. There, her friends and fellow students were already waiting to give her a quick, comforting hug. Ron and Neville had finally managed to disentangle themselves as well, so they could join in with all the other kids, complimenting the bushy-haired girl. Well, all the other kids, except for the Slytherins, obviously. Who thought it to be insulting, that a mudblood had succeeded to accomplish the task, before a pureblood could.

Meanwhile, the Griffindors were very proud of their young bookworm!

**333333**

After all the other students had left, Harry, Ron and Hermione remained on the schoolgrounds with Raven, who would accompany them to their meeting with Hagrid. When the halfgiant opened the door, he was very surprised to find the guard there. Apparently, no one had told him about the ANBU yet. After Hermione had explained, who Sasuke was and why he was here, Hagrid seemed to get a little more comfortable with the bluish-haired boy. While the Golden Trio got even more uncomfortable and curious about their friends' injuries. He was treating them with a raw piece of dragon meat. When the young students asked for the third time, Hagrid snapped:

"For the last time, it's nothin'."

"You should go see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid, please," Hermione suggested with a desperate tone.

"I can take care of it, okay?" the halfgiant replied evadingly.

"So, you gonna tell us what happened, Hagrid?"

"Can't, Harry. Sorry, but it's top secret. Won't risk my job by telling you."

"Did the giants do that to you?" Raven suddenly asked. Gasps ran through the room.

"How do you know about it?"

"We have our sources. So, I am right."

"…"

"So, you have visited the giants?" Harry inquired after a moment of silence.

"…Oh, fine, yes. Yes, I did. You happy now?"

"What happened?"

"Why do you always have to know everything?"

"And how did you find them?" Ron added as an afterthought.

"I hardly doubt, they're that hard to find, wouldn't you agree?!?" Raven huffed.

"Well…"

"Anyway!" Hermione interrupted, before Ron could start bickering with the ANBU. "Why don't you tell us, what happened, Hagrid? Then, Harry can tell you, how the dementors attacked him-"

"What?!? Dementors? You were attacked by dementors?" Hagrid asked, bewildered.

"Didn't you know?" Hermione countered.

"I don't know anything, about what happened, while I was away. It was, after all, a secret mission. I didn't want to many owls following me, you know… But really now, dementors?"

"Yep, really. Appeared in Little Whinging, and attacked me and my cousin. The ministry of magic almost threw me out of school-"

"WHAT?"

Sasuke cringed. That halfgiant had too strong a voice, even for someone with just about normal hearing.

'_Maybe I should lure Naruto to him, and make him yell into the dobe's face… That would be fun…'_

"-and I had to go to a hearing and all."

"They threw you out?!?"

"Tell us about your summer, and I'll tell you about mine," Harry offered.

With his uncovered eye- he was holding the steak to the other- Hagrid pinned Harry with a dark gaze, while the Boy-Who-Lived had an expression of innocent determination on his scared face.

"Oh, well. Fine, " Hagrid gave up, sighing, "well, we- that is Madam Maxime and I- departed immediately after the end of the school year, and I can tell you, that Olympe is one tough gal. I mean, you know her. She's a well-dressed lady, and I knew, where we would be going, and I was already asking myself, what she would think about walking over scree, but she didn't complain even once."

"Wait, you knew, where you were going?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, well, Dumbledore knew. He told us."

"Are they even hiding? I mean, is it a secret, where they are?" Ron inquired immediately.

"Not really, but most wizards could care less about their location, as long as they are far away. Plus, it's pretty difficult to get, where they live. We needed Dumbledore's advice, and it still took us about a month to get there. Yes, a month, Ronald. And we couldn't use a portkey, because the ministry is watching Dumbledore closely, so the last thing he needed, was an unauthorized portkey. Therefore, we had to travel like muggles for a while, until we were sure, we had shaken the minstry wizards off. After that, we used a little magic to get onwards, and from then on, the travel wasn't even halfbad. We ran into a group of crazy trolls near Polen and had a little trouble with a vampire in Minsk, but then we reached the mountains, and everything was fine. We just couldn't use magic. They don't like wizards that much, you know. Anyway, we had to be careful, in case You-Know-Who had already sent his Death Eaters to meet with them. Anyway, we found them. There were around eighty of them, that all, there left of the giants. Well, it was night, so we waited a few hours and then went down with our present- Dumbledore said, we should give something to their leader. That's always the biggest, ugliest and laziest out of all of them, so it wasn't very difficult to find out, whom to give the gift-"

"What did you give him?" Ron asked. "Something to eat?"

"Na, that's something they can easily provide themselves with. No, we gave them a little bit of magic. They like that, as long as it isn't used against them. So we gave them a flame, that would never be put out. It was like all hell was breaking loose. They really liked it, so I asked, if he could please talk to us, when we would come back with another gift the next morning. Dumbledore wanted us to take it slow, you know. So we left them, and came back the next day. We did, we gave him an indistructable helmet, and then we talked, while they mostly listened. The leader, Karkus, had heard of Dumbledore, and how he had been against the execution of the last giants in Great Britain, so he was really interested in what we had to say. We were optimistic, when we left for the night, promising to bring another gift in the morning, but then… everything went wrong."

"How so?" Ron wanted to know.

"Well, giants aren't made to live in such big groups, so there were many fight between the different members. That night, there was a really big fight and when it was over, there was a new leader, Gologmath. We hadn't expected such a thing, after getting closer to Krakus. We had the sinking feeling, that Golgomath wouldn't want to listen to us, but we had to try, so we went back with the third gift, offering it to the new leader of the tribe. Before I had even finished greeting him, two of them had already yanked me up by my feet. If it wouldn't have been for Olympe and her magical skill, I wouldn't have gotten out of that one. However, then, we were really screwed. I told you, they don't like wizards much, so we had to flee. We stayed in a cavern for a few days and watch silently. Turned out, Golgomath was friends with Death Eaters. Fortunately for us, that didn't go for all of them. We waited until dark and then went back down, but this time, we met with those, who hadn't wanted Golgomath as their leader- or in other words, the ones, that were constantly beaten up! We treated their injuries and talked to them, and it didn't look so bad, until Golgomath found out about our nightly activities. He attacked them. Afterwards, none of those, who had survived, had still wanted to talk to us. Our only hope now is, that those, who don't want to be near Golgomath, will leave the mountains, remembering, that Dumbledore has been kind to them, and maybe they'll come here…" Hagrid ended his report.

After a minutes of silence, Harry inquired, if his friends had heard anything about his mother. The halfgiant smiled sadly, before replying, that she had been dead for quite some time now. When the kids asked again, how he had gotten injured, Hagrid was about to answer, but a knock at the door interrupted him. They gasped and turned towards the door. Sasuke immediately knew, who it was and motioned for the kids to go out the back, and put away the glasses for the tea. Once they were out of sight, Hagrid opened the door. Infront of him stood a tiny woman in a green coat, as well as a matching hat. She leaned back to look at his face; she barely reached up to his navel.

"Well, " Professor Umbridge began, "you're Hagrid, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, she went inside, 'shooing' Fang away.

"Um, I don't want to sound rude," Hagrid spoke up, "but, who the hell are you?"

"My name is Dolores Jane Umbridge."

"Dolores Umbridge?" Hagrid repeated. "I thought, you were from the ministry… Don't you work for Fudge?"

"I was his First Secretary, yes," the Toad-woman admitted, "but at the moment, I'm working as a Defence against the Dark Arts teacher as well as the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts."

"The what? What's that?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," she replied, motioning for the broken cup.

"Oh, that was Fang," Hagrid answered.

"I heard voices."

"I talked to Fang."

"And did he answer?"

"Well, sometimes I'm under the impression that he's almost human, my Fang…"

"There are footprints that lead to your cottage," Umbridge told him. Outside, Sasuke swore under his breath, while still trying to get the kids to run back to the castle, but the Golden Trio just won't comply.

"Well, I just came back. Whoever it was, must've been here some time ago."

"There are no footprints, leading away from your house, though."

"Well, I have no idea, how that is possible," Hagrid said, lightly.

"In any case, how did you get yourself injured?" Umbridge asked.

"Oh, that! I… I stumbled."

"Stumbled?"

"Yeah. Over the broom of a friend. I…"

'_And I thought, Wolf's excuses were lame! I'll have to apologize to him later,"_ Sasuke thought, slapping a hand over his mask-covered eyes.

"Where have you been? The schoolyear started months ago!" Umbridge continued her interrogation.

"I- had gone away, because of my health."

"Your health?"

"Yeah. A little bit of fresh air, you know…"

"Oh, yes, as gamekeeper you don't get very much of that!" the Toad replied sarcastically.

"Well, I wanted something else, you know-"

"The mountains?"

"Mountains? No, I was in the southern France. Little bit of sun and sea, yeah…"

"You didn't get much of a tan, though," Umbridge prompted.

"Oh… uhm… I've got sensitive skin…"

'_Oh, please! Give me a break!'_ Sasuke burried his face in one hand.

Umbridge looked at him coldly.

"Well, I'll inform the minister of your late arrival. Furthermore, as the High inquisitor I need to inspect your class, so I guess, that we'll see each other pretty soon."

'Somehow, I'm sure that after how it went in Kakashi's class today, she'll be dying to throw someone out…'

"You inspect classes?"

"Oh, yes, " Professor Umbridge replied with a sugary sweet smile, that didn't reach her eyes, "the ministry is very interested in identifying and eliminating teachers, that are not up to their task. Good evening."

As soon as they saw Umbridge head for the castle, the three students stormed Hagrid's cottage again, an almost audibly groaning Raven trailing behind them. After affirming, that Umbridge indeed inspected their classes, Hermione hesitantly asked, what Hagrid was planning on teaching them this year. Having heard stories about the halfgiants strange likings, Sasuke's ears perked up as well, and he agreed with Hermione, that what he heard wasn't good. It wasn't good at all.

The bushy-haired girl tried to convince him with every trick she knew, even going as far as visiting him the next morning- dragging Shikamaru with her, since it was his shift- and trying to reason with him again, giving him advice and all. She returned much later with a defeated look on her face, telling them, that, as expected, nothing worked. This day, Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way towards Hagrid's cottage with a very strong sinking feeling in her stomach. They were relieved, for a moment, when they couldn't find the High Inquisitor anywhere, but that feeling was crushed, when Hagrid led them into the Forbidden Forest, a dead cow over his shoulder, saying: "They prefer the dark."

"What prefers the dark?" Malfoy screeched.

Behind him, Harry could hear Fox and Eagle chuckle.

"And what did you do with your face?"

"Mind your own business, Malfoy!" Hagrid snapped at him, still leading the class deeper into the forest. Took them about ten minutes to arrive at their destination. The trees were standing so close to one another now, that there wasn't much light reaching the ground to work with, and not one snowflake graced the ground. Groaning, Hagrid put down the cow into the middle of a clearing, before turning towards the students again, after emitting a long whistle. Not a minute later, once of those dark, skeleton-like horses made their way onto the clearing. Harry couldn't surpress a sigh of relief. Here, finally, was the proof, that these creatures really existed. Hagrid knew them as well, and now, Harry would get to know, what they were. The Boy-Who-Lived could hear a few gasps (Naruto shouted: _"Wow, they are so cool!_"), but mostly only people asking, why Hagrid didn't call again. Looking around, Harry noticed, that those people, like Ron, looked everywhere, but not at the horse that was right infront of them. He didn't understand, what was going on, why no one seemed to see them.

"Who can see them?" Hagrid asked after a while, when a few more of those creatures had arrived. "Ah, yes, Harry, I thought so. You too, Neville?… And the guards, of course-"

"I beg your pardon," Malfoy spoke up, in a sneering tone, "but what exactly are we supposed to see?!?"

As an answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow, on which the horses fed. Gaspes went through the crowd, and Harry imagined, how it would be, to see a corpse be eaten up by thin air. Parvati shrieked and asked, who was doing that, who was eating the cow. Hagrid answered in one simple word:

"Thestrales."

"But they bring bad luck!" Parvati yelped.

"Now, that's just nonsense. Well, who can tell me, why some of you can see them, while others can't?… Yes, Hermione?"

"To see Thestrales you need to have seen death."

"Exactly," Hagrid said, "10 points to Griffindor. Well, Thestrales-"

"Chrm, chrm."

Professor Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a few meters away from Harry and the blonde guard, again wearing her green coat. She was holding her notepad against her chest, her quill ready to scribble. Hagrid, who hadn't noticed her yet, looked strangely at the nearest Thestrale, wondering, if it had made that strange sound. Another "chrm, chrm" made him turn to the Toad-woman, while Fox cringed deliberatedly.

"Oh, hello," Hagrid greeted the High Inquisitor, "I see, you found your way here. Well, as you can see- or, I'm not sure, can you?- we're talking about Thestrales-"

"Excuse me?" Umbridge started, putting a hand behind her ear. "What did you say?"

"Uhm- Thestrales," he said more loudly. "Big, winged horses, you know?"

As Hagrid started to wave with his enormous arms, Umbridge took that as he sign to begin her crusade, spelling out loud, how she was writing down that Hagrid needed primitive handsigns to communicate. The Slytherins started giggling, while the other students, even if they preferred Grubby-Plank, weren't as amused. Naruto exchanged a glance with Neji, who shook his head no, so the blonde wouldn't interfere. The Hyuuga didn't like the Toad-woman's game either, but this wasn't their top priority. Meanwhile, Hagrid was telling them the story of Hogwarts' herd, though he was interrupted again.

"You do realize, " Umbridge began, "that the Ministry states these animals to be dangerous."

Harry's sinking feeling grew, but Hagrid giggled slightly.

"Thestrales aren't dangerous. Okay, maybe they bite a piece of you away, if you anger them-"

"Shows… distinct…signs of…enjoying violence…" Umbridge read out loud, while writing down her notes.

"Now, that's enough. Dogs bite as well, if you provoke them!" Hagrid huffed.

Ignoring, what he had said, Umbridge told- and showed- Hagrid, that she was going to ask the students a few questions. By now, the Slytherins were laughing their heads off; Pansy Parkinson almost couldn't answer that she thought of Hagrid's way of speaking as grunting, when Umbridge asked her. Meanwhile, Hermione was swearing under her breath, like Harry and Ron had never heard her swear. Plus, they could hear the low, growling sounds from Fox behind them, as Umbridge twisted Neville's answer so that it would serve her purpose. A second later, the blonde guard was intoning his own series of swears, and curses in his native language. Harry looked towards the other guard, Eagle, who had the dubious pleasure of standing near the Slytherins. His stiff posture, and the impatient tapping of his index finger, as his arms rested crossed over his chest, were the only signs of his distress. Suddenly, he stopped, and his head shot up. The Boy-Who-Lived found Fox looking up from the horses, and at his comrade, alarmed.

"_What is it?"_ the blonde asked.

"Everyone, cramp together and stay in the group," the Hyuuga replied without looking at him. "Fox, make a bunch of your clones. Make sure no one gets hit."

Confused, but trusting his brown-haired friend, Naruto ushered the students, Hagrid, and Umbridge to stick together in one group. Reluctant at first, the Slytherin hastily complied, once the first green flash came towards the kids from in between the trees. Neji jumped infront of the group, kaitening the death curse to be nothing more than fireworks, and sending a bunch of shuriken flying. A strangled cry could be heard seconds later along with a 'thump'. Obviously, he had hit one of them. The other Death Eaters came into view only a moment later. Their leader made a complicated move with his wand that sent the brown-haired guard flying to the side, until his back hit hard against a trunk. Shaking his head clear, the pale-eyed boy fumbled with his radio. It wasn't like they couldn't take the wizards, because they could. The only problem was that this time, the kids weren't in a halfway safe enviroment- like a train- but right there on the battlefield with them. Naruto was too preoccupied keeping the kids safe from any and all curses with his shadow clones to do much more. Especially since some of the brats- namely the members of the DA- found the need to try, and help them. This way, Naruto had to restrain the little rebells from intervening with the course of the fight, as well.

"Wolf," he called into the radio. "We're in the forest, and under attack. We need backup."

Then, he gave his superior some coordinates, and moved to stand up. One of the dark-clothed men had followed him, though, and cast the Avadra Kedavra, while Neji was still in midmotion. Unable to dodge the attack, the young Hyuuga did the first thing that came to his mind. He threw a kunai right into the curse. It worked. The curse exploded, but so did the kunai. It burst into a thousand pieces that scattered over the clearing, hitting a few of those Thestrales, and destroying some of Naruto's shadow clones, and fotunately killing the Death Eater as well. With a piece of metal in his throat, he sank to his knees, gurgling.

Neji was hit too, though.

Two of the shards impaled themselves into his left thigh, and the third found it's way into his shoulder. It was a close call, as it was only a few centimeters away from his own neck. He tried to stand up again, but the pieces in his thigh must have hit a few nerves, because his leg wasn't responding. It was limp.

'_Damn!'_ Neji thought. With his Byakugan, he saw Naruto giving him a worried glance out of the corner of his eye, and signaled him that he couldn't move from his spot. The Death Eaters seemed to notice, because they turned their full attention to the army of blonde guards, destroying one after the other with their stunning spells. Fortunately for the kids, Naruto wasn't quite human, so he could make new clones everytime one was destroyed- which frustrated Voldemort's little helpers to no end.

Still, they progressed towards the cramped together group.

They were only a few feet away, when something strange happened. One of them stopped in midstep, began to tremble, and wriggle as if something was holding him. Then suddenly, he made a flip backwards, and, turning to his surprised comrades, swung his wand, sending an Avadra Kedavra at them. The nearest fell over dead, immediately. However, the remaining Death Eaters were quick to react, and killed their companion, before advancing towards the kids again. The second after, found two of them being strangled by apparently nothing but thin air.

'_Well, on such dark clothes it's hard to make out a shodow-y hand…'_ Neji thought, relived.

The other three Death Eaters stared at their comrades surprised, but weren't given the time to think up a new strategy, or flee. A black and white blur knocked the first of them down onto the ground, while two senbon pinned the wands of the remaining two to the ground. Naruto immediately commanded his shadow clones to pin them to the dirt underneath them. Looking up, he found Cat standing with one feet on her opponent's chest, holding the man down. When they noticed that the Death Eater was raising his wand, the brown-haired woman kicked it away, before breaking his fingers by putting her weight on them. Turning her head, she found the other two strangled on the ground, and a lazy pineapple-head leaning against a nearby tree, muttering his favorite word.

She smiled. "Fox, Deer, get the students, and our guests into the castle. I'm sure, Wolf would like to interrogate them."

Seeing the sadistic grins on his comrades faces as they walked away with the brats, Neji deactivated his bloodline limit, and slumped back against the tree. Walking over to him, his aunt crouched down to take a better look at his wounds. The piece in his shoulder got out immediately, and the injury was healed, then she turned to his thigh. Sayuri explained that he'd have to have Sakura take a look at it, but she needed to get the shards out, or he'd die of bloodloss. Plus, she wanted to have his nerves regenerated as soon as possible. Ripping the fabric of his pants just enough to see what she was doing (Neji blushed behind his mask), and taking out a scalpel, she cut deeply into his flesh to remove the metallic pieces from his leg.

"Why?" Nej asked.

She looked at him for a moment, as if unsure of what he was talking about.

"He's probably trying to pressure us?" It was more of question than an answer.

"No. **Him**. Why him of all people?"

She didn't answer for a second, as she concentrated on getting the pieces of his broken kunai out of his wound so she could give him a first healing.

"Because he's himself," she replied mystically. "Because we hated each other the first time we met, because we went all out during our sparring matches, because we did our best to send each other into hospital everytime we trained together…because he was a by-the-book kind of shinobi, while I was a total rebell. Because he came to me, breaking into my chambers, when his best friend died, and he got his sharingan as a parting gift. Because his only remaining eye was shedding tears against his will. Because he needed someone who would listen without commenting, unless asked to. Because he was there, when my brother- your father- gave his life for a clan that treated him like dirt, because I could confide in him then, and because he let me cry on his shoulder without thinking any less of me…"

Neji stayed silent.

"Because of the way he held me through the night, after I told him what I did…what I had become. Because he didn't turn away, digusted. Because I feel safe, and protected in his embrace, and cherished under his touch. Because he's-" And here she paused to look around, though knowing there was no one but them "- because he's Kakashi."

Neji still didn't say anything.

Healing his thigh as best as she could, she stood, before yanking him into a standing position, one of his arms around her shoulder, so she could support him.

"Well, then. Let's go. Sakura is already waiting in our dorms."

And with that, they 'poofed' away.

**333333**

This night, after their last DA meeting for this year, and finding out that Ginny Weasley had taken his place as a seeker, Harry went to bed with a slight headache. His mood wasn't the best, but at least thoughts of how Lynx had flattened Umbridge this afternoon, could give him back some joy. Plus, he had kissed Cho for the first time. It had been after their DA meeting. Everyone had already left, only Cho and him had remained in the Room of Requierement- and Deer, but well... They had talked for a few minutes, mostly about Cedric, and how Harry always seemed to get away, when Voldemort attacked him. He had been about to leave, when she called him back to apologize, then they noticed their position under a misteltoe. Hearing the pine-apple-headed guard mutter one of his infamous Troublesomes, they had inclined their heads and…

Sigh…

On the downside, it had to be mentioned that Cho had cried during the kiss, which Hermione had explained to be a multitude of emotions filling the girl at the moment, she just didn't know, how to handle. Now, he was slowly drifting off into slumber, returning to that door, that had been haunting him for some time now, but this time, it was different. He wasn't running towards the door, he was… crawling?… He didn't know, but his body felt different, pliant, yet strong… he was flat on the ground, and slid forwards with his stomach… it was dark, but he could see strange objects, glowing in different colours…the hallway was empty…but wait… there was a presence, he could smell it… a man… he was close…alive, but tired, almost sleeping already…sitting infront of the door, he wanted to open…

Harry could feel the desire in him to bite that man, repeatedly, again and again, until he lay in a pool of his own blood… slowly fading from life… pain…and cold his companions on this last travel…

In a second, the man was standing. A silvery coat fell from his legs, and a wand was drawn from his belt. Harry didn't have another choice, but to attack. He straightened himself… and snatched at him, burrying his poisoned teeth into him, over and over again. The man fell to the ground with countless wounds on his body, a scream left his lips, blood leaked over the ground. His face turned towards Harry, so familiar, so dear…

It was Mr. Weasley.

**End of chapter 12!**

**A/N: Ah, we're getting to the interesting part now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review!**


	13. Matters Of Trust

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**  
Warning: ...uhm, violence aka torture**

**Chapter 13: Matters of Trust**

(While Harry is dreaming)

The sickening sound of breaking bones filled the room, along with a pained groan, and some whimpering. It was dark, only one bowl with burning oil illuminating the dungeon. Behind the tiny light a man was seated on a chair. His black robes were torn to show his chest where quite a few bloody scratches could be seen. His wrist were tied against the armrests, his upper body against the back. His mask had been taken from him, so that his rough face could be seen. Dumbledore had told them that he didn't reckognize the man, though there was no doubt that he was one of Voldemort's recruits. A blade ran along his chest, a quick cut, and another whine echoed through the room. A dark-gloved hand covered his hand to break another finger, then another, and another. Yelps fell out of his mouth one after another, but the man bit his lip, decisive not to say a word.

Too bad for him.

His tormentor circled him like a hungry vulture, smirking to himself, and maybe enjoying this little piece of work a bit too much. The third person in the room didn't say anything, though, quietly watching their team leader proving yet again why the description of being a 'sadistic bastard' fit him so perfectly. The silver-haired man actually enjoyed the wizard's resistence. It made it so much more fun to break him. Making another round, he let his blade sink into the man's throat, just lightly enough to hurt, but not to kill.

The man whimpered.

The Wolf-masked guard went over to break the last finger of the man's right hand, then cut through the rope that held his arm in place. Lifting the injured hand, he grazed the sensitive skin with a senbon. A few droplets of blood fell from the new wound, but the ANBU was anything but done. He made a few more cuts, and then lifted the layer of skin from the poor Death Eater's thumb. The man screeched like a little girl at the sight alone.

Kakashi chuckled.

"Care to talk to me now?" he asked with an innocent tone to his voice.

The wizard pressed his lips together some more. He probably tried to close his eyes as well, but couldn't bring himself to take his gaze off of the disgusting, yet somewhat intriguing sight of his de-skinned finger. So, the shinobi elite continued, taking care of the next finger on the man's hand. Now the whimpering started, before Kakashi had so much as touched the man's skin. Another chuckle made it's way through the ANBU's throat, only to vibrate through the whole room with it's echo.

"I've said it once, and I hate to have to repeat myself, but I'll do it anyway," Wolf started explaining while working on the third finger at the same time, "Attacking us isn't the best way to befriend us. I understand the logic of a little pressure, but insulting our skills like that is just suicidal."

While the silver-maned jounin continued his work, the door slid open. The wizard's gaze focused on the point where the sound came from for a moment, but it was too dark, and he couldn't see anything. When he felt a stabbing pain in his other hand, his eyes snapped up at the man infront of him who was making a 'no, no' gesture with one of his fingers.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, the music is being played here, my friend," the man told him, definitely smiling down at him from behind his mask. "I don't like to be ignored. It triggers my more sadistic side, you know…So, attention back on the topic, understood?!?"

The figure that entered stood at the door in shock of what was happening right infront of him. He wasn't a very easy man to scare, but what the guard was just doing to the captured Death Eater… He was sure, the man wished that he had died in the battle like most of his comrades right now. Staring for another few seconds that seemed like an eternity, he recomposed himself, straightening his back, and turning to the other guard in the room. Said woman was leaning leisurely against the wall as if nothing was wrong.

"What is the meaning of this?" the man whispered.

"I believe, this is called interrogation, Snape-san." she replied smoothly.

"This is torture," he man replied in a terse manner.

"As a matter of fact, yes, it is." Her voice was so casual, she could be talking about her lunch.

"I told you, I have truth serum if you wanted to question him. You refused-" He began to speak, but was stopped.

"Wolf prefers the old-fashioned way," the brown-haired woman explained.

"I hardly believe the headmaster allowed this." Snape responded in a rather monotone voice.

"It's none of his business. We protect this school, the methods are up to us. Dumbledore-san knew what he signed up for when he hired us." She responded to him in a terse manner.

"…Why did you summon me here?" Snape asked as calmly as he could. These people were as evil as the Dark Lord himself.

"To teach you a lesson, for once. Wolf wanted you to understand what would happen to you if you insult one of us again." Cat answered.

Snape gulped. This was too much for him, too.

"Secondly, we wanted you to tell your master that we're ready to meet him during the christmas holidays when most of the students go home." She stated to him.

"The Dark Lord will be very pleased." Snape replied.

"And thirdly-" Here, Sayuri was interrupted by another loud scream coming from the tortured wizard. "Would you keep it down, please?" she barked at the man, " We're trying to have a conversation, here."

The potions' master looked at her like she had two heads. She couldn't be serious! The man was tortured, yet she had the gall to ask, no demand from him, he keep quiet?!?! He had to correct himself, Snape thought, these people were worse than the Dark Lord- in some ways at least. But they were powerful, and that was all that mattered. The Dark Lord wanted to ally himself with them, and ordered Snape to arrange everything for him, so that's what Snape was going to do.

"I'll arrange a meeting with the Dark Lord for the upcoming Christmas break. On neutral ground, of course." Snape assured the Cat-masked guard, bowed slightly (better respect their customs, and stay alive, even if he had to 'avada kedavra' some of his pride), and made a bee line for the door. The guard's voice, however, stopped him, before he could even put a hand on the doorknob.

"I wasn't done yet. Thirdly, we-"

Again, she was interrupted, though this time by the door flying open- almost hitting Snape square in the face- and the blond guard running inside, telling his superiors, and the other people present that Dumbledore wanted all the guards in his office. Something about Potter having a really bad nightmare. Kakashi exchanged glances with Sayuri as Snape ran out the door, before turning back to his new friend, and whispering in the man's ear a mock apology.

"I'm sorry, I gotta go," the silver-haired man teased, "-but I'll be back, I promise."

Chuckling at his whimper, the guards left the room to join Dumbledore.

333333

When Kakashi, Naruto, and Sayuri arrived on the scene, they found their comrades already waiting for them while Dumbledore was giving orders to some people in the paintings behind his desk. The moment, he sat food into the office, Kakashi demanded an explanation of what happened. Neji, Shikamaru, Sakura, and even Sasuke all averted their masked faces, so it was obvious that they looked at the floor. It was as if they didn't know how to answer that question. After a moment of awkward silence, Harry opened his mouth.

"I had a dream- a vision, about how Mr. Weasley was attacked by a giant snake-" A shiver ran through some of the ANBU, even Wolf tensed at the mention of the s-word "- and he's severly injured, and… I don't know- he could die, and… I… I was the snake, goddammit!"

Kakashi just raised a silver eyebrow at him, then he sighed, and turned to the headmaster.

"Dumbledore-san," he addressed the older man, "I suggest, you ask our comrades at Grimauld Place to get him back. They'll be faster than your people… If they are at the headquarters at the moment, of course."

'Comrades? At Grimauld Place? But all the guards are here?!?' Harry thought, thoroughly confused.

"Yes, I came to the same conclusion. I hope, you don't mind that I already sent Phineas with those exact instructions?" Dumbledore smiled. Kakashi shrugged, then watched as the man named Everard came back into her portrait. "Ah, what can you tell me?"

"I went to my other portrait as you requested. I was about to shout for help, and tell them that I heard something from below- there are no portraits there, you know- but then one of those masked people appeared out of nowhere, and asked me to be quiet, told me that they would take care of everything. A moment later, they brought him up for me to see him, and then they vanished again in a puff of smoke."

"Very good. Then I guess, he should arrive at Grimmauld Place any moment now," Dumbledore said to the woman before turning around to Professor McGonnagall. "Minerva, would you please wake up the other Weasley-children?"

"Of course…" the female professor replied, and rushed out the door, but not before inquiring who would tell . The headmaster assured her to send Fawkes, though she probably knew already due to her special watch. While the guards inclined their heads in curiosity (except for Shikamaru who was just too lazy), Harry knew very well what watch Dumbledore talked about. The Boy-Who-Lived was very sure, Mr. Weasley's pointer was on 'in deadly danger' right now, and his blood ran cold when he thought about the images showed to Mrs. Weasley by the boggart…

Meanwhile, Dumbledore rummaged through a closet behind his desk, and took out an old, rusty cauldron. Pointing his wand at it, he murmured "Portus!", and the cauldron trembled, and glowed for a second. The headmaster walked over to another portrait of a man called Phineas, who wore Slytherin's colours- green and silver. The man, faking sleep, didn't react when Dumbledore first called him. By now, however, the other portraits started to call the wizard's name as well, and when he couldn't fake sleep anymore, he gave a very dramatic start before asking if someone had called for him.

"I have to ask you to go to your other portrait again," Dumbledore explained, "I have another message."

"My other portrait?" Phineas asked as he was assesing the occupants of the room, raising his eyebrow at the guards, and fixing his gaze on Harry, who recognized his voice from somewhere, for a moment before turning back. "Oh no, Dumbledore, tonight I'm too tired."

"You have to!" another former headmaster's portrait yelled at him.

"We have the honorable duty to aid the current headmaster," Armado Dippet chimed in. "Shame on you, Phineas!"

"Should I persuade him?!?" another witch shouted, raising her wand. "I'm sure, I could get him to-"

She was interrupted when Lynx lost her patience at listening to these old morons.

"Shut up!" the pink-haired guard barked. "All of you! It's the middle of the night, and you decide to resort to yelling now?!? Shut up, and Phineas- that's your name, right?- you go, and do exactly what Dumbledore-san told you to do, or your portrait will meet my good friend: The kunai!"

Aggravated murmurs could be heard, but none of the poirtaits dared say a word out loud. Phineas Niggelus gulped, then nodded, took Dumbledore's message, and went to his other portrait at Grimauld Place Number 12. Harry immediately knew, where he had already heard that voice. It had come out of the seemingly empty portrait in his and Ron's bedroom at Sirius' house. Just as Phineas disappeared from the pictures at Hogwarts, Fred, George, and Ginny were led into the room by Professor McGonnagall, all three of them still in their pajamas.

"Harry- what is happening?" Ginny asked him as soon as she set eyes on him. Her voice was an angsty tremble. "Professor McGonnagall told us that you saw how dad was injured."

"Your father was wounded while working for the order." Dumbledore answered instead of Harry. "He's being treated at Grimmauld Place at the moment. I'll send you back to Sirius' house right now, since it's easier for you just to stay there, than of coming over to visit your father from there than from your own home everytime. You'll meet your mother there."

"And how are we going to get there?" Fred asked, obviously shocked by the news.

"You'll be taking this-" He indicated at the cauldron "- I turned it into a portkey. We're just waiting for Phineas Niggelus to report to us… I wan't to be sure that it's all clear, before I send you over-"

"Besides the fact that the Toad is coming this way, I'd like to sent Fox and Raven with the kids," Kakashi suddenly spoke up. "I know the others are there, but I'd rather be on the safe side, and now let's hurry. The Toad-woman is getting closer, even your phoenix noticed."

As if on cue, a jet of flame appeared in the middle of the room, leaving a single golden feather floating to the floor. Dumbledore ushered them to the cauldron, Fox and Raven joining them, though obviously not pleased by this. They had really hoped they were through with traveling by portkey. Meanwhile the headmaster and the ANBU Squad Leader sent Professor McGonnagall to slow down Umbridge. Cat quickly flew out the door after the Hogwarts teacher to help with a good-natured threat if necessary. The kids grabbed hold of the portkey-cauldron while Dumbledore counted up to three.

It happened in a split-second. Harry's eyes met Dumbledore's for less than a breath's time, but it was enough for Harry to be overcome by the incredible need to hurt the older man, to burry his fangs into the headmaster's throat, and drink, no bath in his warm blood. His scar was burning like never before.

Then, the portkey activated.

333333

"Eagle, Deer, Lynx go back to doing your rounds," Wolf ordered his junior officers. The three heeded the order immediately, hearing the dangerous undertone in his voice. "Is there something that you feel the sudden need to tell me, Dumbledore-san?"

The wizard stayed silent for a moment as if playing it dumb.

"Don't insult my intelligence, Dumbledore-san. I noticed how you were avoiding Potter at all costs, and I noticed the expression that crossed the kid's face just for a second when your gazes locked. I've seen it quite often in my admittedly bloody career. It's the desire to kill, or rather, to hurt, to torture, to have your victim beg for death, and then torture them some more before finally granting them death's sweet bliss. Why does the boy look at you with those eyes, Dumbledore-san?"

The headmaster let himself fall back down into his chair, tired.

"You better take a seat, Wolf, this is going to take a while."

"I'm all ears," the silver-haired man replied, sitting down at the edge of Dumbledore's desk. Then, the headmaster started to explain, and Kakashi was lost for the first time in his life- not considering all those times he got lost on the road of life, of course. A mental, magical connection between two beings because of a failed curse?!? That was far-fetched even for someone like him!

"I see..." was all he got out, once the wizard had ended.

"No, you don't." Dumbledore chuckled.

"No, I don't, " Kakashi admitted freely, though he didn't like it, "-but I am able to accept it as a fact, anyway. You should've told us sooner, though. I know, you told us about a connection between Potter and Voldemort, but you never mentioned that it was this deep. This is something you shouldn't have kept from us- even if it was merely a suspicion of yours, Dumbledore-san. It does make a difference for our mission."

The headmaster looked at him strangely, not quite understaning why Wolf emphasised the importance of this infrormation so much, but let it slide when he was told a silent "Nevermind". He had hired them, and he trusted them. And hadn't Moody himself said that they were completely loyal to their mission, once they took it? Even if this man didn't tell him everything- and yes, Dumbledore knew about the torturing activities in his school's dungeon, though none of the guards had bothered telling him- he would trust them. They wouldn't betray him.

The door slid open to reveal a very begrudged Minerva McGonnagall, followed by a seemingly indifferent Cat, and a furious Umbridge- much to Kakashi's chagrin.

'I'm not sure, if my ears will be able to live through this…Yare, yare,' the ANBU Captain whined inwardly.

333333

Once Harry was done repeating everything he had told Dumbledore- except for the way in which he had witnessed the attack- all hell broke loose. The Weasley twins, and Ginny wanted to go see him immediately, and would even throw a fit when Sirius wouldn't let them. Though Sirius tried to reason with them that Arthur wasn't a nice sight, and needed rest now anyway, they didn't want to listen. It wasn't before a third voice interrupted their little argument that they gave up.

"Enough!" came a deep male voice from somewhere above.

"Ya-" Fox started to shout, but stopped when Raven slapped him up the back of his head.

Looking up, they found a man with short brown hair glaring at them from behind his ANBU mask. It resembled something cat-like, but Harry wasn't quite sure what exactly it was. Fred and George, who had been arguing with Sirius more than anyone, fell silent. The ANBU let himself fall from the ceiling to land infront of them- behind Sirius. Giving the kids a onceover, he resumed speaking.

"It's nighttime, and you should get some sleep. You wouldn't be able to help your father now, anyway. Rest assured, though. Your father is not gonna die. Our team medic took a good look at him, and is removing the poison from his system at this moment-" He was interrupted by a pained scream "- which is an excrutiating process but it'll save his life. I was supposed to keep the silencing jutsu up, but you distracted me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear this… Now, go get some sleep, kids. We'll take care of him. And I warn you about sneaking out to see him, anyway. I'm nothing like Wolf, I don't forgive so easily."

The Hogwarts' students gulped at that, remembering what Lynx said about Wolf being a 'sadistic bastard', and not to mention mentally reliving all their Taijutsu lessons- with all the bruises, and cuts, and broken limbs.

"Who are you, anyway?!?" Fred tried to rebell one last time, but his voice told them that most of the fight had left him already.

"You may call me Lion, and this is Bear," he said, indicating behind himself with his thumb, where another ANBU Captain- recognizable by the black colour of the swirls on his mask- came into view, nodding to them. His brown hair was lighter, and longer. It went till just above his shoulders. He stopped beside Lion, and told the man something in their own language before excusing himself, and going to bed. "Our medic seems to be almost done now-"

"So, we can see him?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Not tonight," a third voice interjected before Lion could answer. A woman with long blonde hair followed Bear out of the shadows, wiping her hands of some green liquid with a towel. Her mask with it's crimson swirls was a bird. "I'm Swan, I'm the medic that treated your father. He's stable, but he's still in need of rest. The process of getting the poison out of his blood has exhausted him. He needs absolute rest for twelve hours at least. You may visit him tomorrow, if you promise not to strain him."

The Weasleys nodded.

"Is Squirrel still gone?" Lion asked.

"If he hasn't reported back to you yet, then yes."

"Hm."

"Squirrel?" Fred and George asked.

"Our forth team member," Swan explained. "He was sent to retrieve your mother, and get her here safely, though I still don't understand, why him. They might have gotten into an argument on the way. Squirrel isn't exactly known for his tact…"

"Would you rather I had Bear going?" Lion asked smugly.

"Err…no."

"Didn't think so."

"Squirrel?" Raven repeated for a moment. "You mean… the ink-guy?"

'Ink-guy?!?' the wizards thought.

"Yeah." Swan and Lion replied.

"I agree with Swan, he wasn't the right person for this, and if Swan couldn't go herself, and you didn't want Bear to, you could've still gone yourself."

"I didn't feel like travelling tonight." the older ANBU replied.

"…"

"You're exactly like sensei, then!" Fox accused him, remembering how the eraser fell on Kakashi's head, though the jounin could've easily avoided it. Lion shrugged, and 'poofed' away, after Swan asked him to make sure that Mr. Weasley was tucked in.

"It was one door he would've had to open," the blonde woman muttered. "Lazy ass."

"Just like sensei," Fox chuckled. "Anyway, let's get you tucked in, as well. Come on, children. To your beds- speaking of beds: Where are we gonna sleep?"

"We'll share like last time, dobe," Raven answered, annoyed. "We're even one less, so two will get a bed of their own and-"

"ME! Me! I want a bed of my- ow!" Fox shouted as Swan hit him over the head, reminding him that there was a lady present, so she would get one of the spare beds- and the other would surely be occupied by one of the captains. Fox cursed. "Damn!"

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The next morning upon entering the kitchen, Harry was greeted by two strong arms enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug. Somewhere behind him, he could hear Swan snicker. Mrs. Weasley had arrived sometime that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, and was now thanking Harry exaggeratedly as her husband's savior. Thinking about payback, the Boy-Who-Lived directed her at Swan, who had saved Mr. Weasley with her medical techniques.

"Of course, of course," the red-haired woman said, crying of happiness. In the next second, it was the only female ANBU present, who was held tightly against Mrs. Weasley's chest. "Thank you so much, my dear."

"It's…ugh…alright," Ino ground out, coughing at the lack of oxygen. "It's my…job."

"What's for breakfast?" Naruto chirped, and for once Ino thanked the gods for his cheery attitude in the morning. At least she didn't have to put up with it constantly, like Sakura. Neither of the friends / rivals were morning people. Mrs. Weasley let go of the poor ANBU, laughing at Naruto's antics, and moving aside so that the shinobi could pass. Sirius, Lion, and Bear were already sitting at the kitchen table. The tense posture of their shoulders indicated that both ANBU had already gotten their hug for recovering Mr. Weasley from the ministry. With them sat another guard, younger, with purple swirls on his mask. His black hair was practically glued to his skull, yet it didn't look like he was using any sort of hair product to achieve this. The boy looked up, once everyone entered the room.

"Brats, Beautiful," he greeted them, "-Bastard, Dickless."

Then, he returned to his food again, silence ensuing throughout the room.

Not a moment later, Fox was trying to get a good blow at him, but was unable to do so as Swan had a tight grip on him. Raven didn't seem to mind the insult, or probably he just didn't show it, deciding to get back at the offensive boy during their next sparring session. Instead, the bluish-haired guard moved to sit on the opposite side of the table, greeting the boy that was his superior with something that sounded distinctly like "Moron".

"So, we can see our dad today?" Fred asked defiantly when he sat down.

"If you promise-" Swan started, but was interrupted by George.

"-not to strain him, yeah, we get it." They responded.

"No, I don't think you do," the blonde medic replied. "He is stable, yes, but if you strain him, after just 12 hours, you could worsen his condition again. He's just had a treatment against poisoning..Not to mention that, though healed, the meshed skin of his wounds is still tender. A hard enough laugh could make them re-open, and then you can say goodnight. He can't loose any more blood, and since he was mostly unconscious when I treated him- thank god, or it would've been far worse- and hasn't woken up until a few minutes ago. I couldn't give him some of our bloodpills yet. I need to find out what bloodtype he is before that, anyway, since I don't have any of the 0-type with me.. So, unless you want to lose him, you better take that promise very seriously."

The twins fell into a guilty silence, but nodded.

"Good," Ino huffed. "Then you may see him after breakfast- or rather lunch. It's already two o'clock."

3333333

Mr. Weasley seemed to be fine. He really didn't look like he had been halfdead the evening before, at all. His body wasn't even wrapped in bandages. He was sitting up against a sheer mountain of pillows, the sheets covering him till the chest, and Swan insisted it remained that way, telling them that he should be kept warm all the time. He greeted them all with a warm smile from behind his Daily Prophet as they entered, and thanked Harry almost as much as Mrs. Weasley had shortly before.

"What happened, Dad?" Fred inquired immediately.

"Oh, but you already know, don't you? I had a hard day, drifted off into sleep, and something sneaked up on me and bit me."

"Is it in the Prophet that you were attacked?"

"No, of course not!" Mr. Weasley replied. "The ministry doesn't know what happened, thanks to our masked friends here, and even if they did, they wouldn't want anyone to know that some giant snake has-"

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley admonished.

"Uhm.. that a giant snake tried to eat me alive."

"Where were you when that happened, Dad?" Ginny asked.

"That's not your business," Mr. Weasley replied, but smiled mysteriously. He re-opened his newspaper. "As you came in, I was just reading that Willy Wi-"

"When you say, you were working, what exactly did you do?" Apparently, Fred wouldn't give up that easily.

"You heard your father, " Mrs. Weasley replied for her husband, "we'll not talk about that. What happened to Willy Widdershins, Arthur?"

"Well, don't ask me why, but he's free now. He was the one with the jinxed toilets. I can only guess that gold has changed it's owner."

"You guarded it, right?" George asked silently. "The thing, You-Know-Who wants?"

"George!" Mrs. Weasley and Swan warned. The blonde medic had been silent until now, but she wasn't going to just stand there, and let them rile their father up. That could result in him doing something rash, and then the wounds would re-open. She couldn't have that.

"However," Mr. Weasley continued, raising his voice a little. "This time they caught him red-handed, so to speak. He was trying to sell muggles biting doorknobs. I don't think that he'll get out of it, this time. The article says that two muggles lost some fingers, and are at St-Mungo's now to get them to grow again. Muggles in St-Mungo! I wonder on which station they would be."

"Didn't you say that You-Know-Who has a pet-snake, Harry? A big one? You saw it on the night, he came back, right?" Fred continued to inquire.

"That's enough," Swan said. "Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks are infront of the door. It seems, they've come to discuss things. And you'll wait outside."

"That's unfair!" Fred burst.

"Why do they get to ask questions, and we don't?" George added.

"Because your father will willingly answer them, but not you. That's the difference," the blonde medic snorted as she shoved them outside, let the two aurors in, and slammed the door in their face.

"No problem," Fred said to the door, while seraching his pockets.

"Are you looking for these?" George asked, holding out on of their magical ears to him.

"You can read my thought, mate!" Fred replied, and took the ear while George gave the others some as well. Harry hesitated. "Come on, Harry. You saved Dad's life. If anyone has the right to eavesdrop on him than it's you.

At this, Harry reluctantly took one.

"…we've searched the whole area, but couldn't find anything," they could hear the medic's voice. "Apparently, the snake disappeared after attacking you, Mr. Weasley… but Voldemort couldn't really think that a snake would get inside, could he?"

"I guess he used her as a spy or something," Moody growled. "I think, he wanted to get a clear idea of what the surroundings are like, and if Arthur hadn't been there, the beast would've had much more time to look around. Potter says, he's seen everything?"

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley replied, obviously uncomfortable. "It's almost like, Dumbledore has been expecting this. As if he had waited for it to happen."

"Well, there is something strange about the Potter-boy. We knew that," Moody replied. "Fortunately, the ANBU are keeping an eye on him. This might progress into something a wizard can't handle- well, except for Dumbledore, of course."

"Dumbledore seemed to be concerned for Harry when I spoke to him this morning," Mrs. Weasley whispered.

"Of course, he's concerned," Moody grunted. "Potter is seeing things from the inside of You-Know-Who's snake. Of course, the boy doesn't know what that means, but if You-Know-Who has taken control over him-"

At this point, Harry stopped eavesdropping. His heart was beating a mile per hours in his chest, and heat was creeping to his face. He looked over to his friends. They were staring at him, fear evident on their faces.

**End of chapter 13!**

**A/N: Alright, this is the last chapter posted this year, because now I'll go into Christmas break, and I won't be back until January, third. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review. Reviews are love, and make for a great Christmas gift! ;)**

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

**Love,**

**Mayet**


	14. Christmas Part I

**Hogwart's ANBU**

**Chapter 14: Christmas at Grimauld Place and Hogwarts (Part 1)**

Was this the reason, why Dumbledore didn't want to look him in the eye anymore? Did he fear that Voldemort might look back, jade eyes turning red? That Voldemort's snake-like face could be seen at the back of his head like with professor Quirrel?

These and more had been questions, Harry had asked himself after he had fled into the room he was sharing with Ron, combing through his hair, and imagening how it would feel, if Voldemort really did break out of his back. He felt dirty, infested, as if some lethal seed was germinating within him. As if he didn't have the right to be here with his friends, the people he considered his family. The people that were pure, not tainted by Voldemort's dark influence… people that hadn't been the snake that attacked Mr. Weasley. A terrible thought had come to him. The memory of what Sirius said. That Voldemort was looking for a weapon. Something he hadn't had the first time.

Realization had dawned on him.

'I am the weapon!' Harry thought, disgust churning in his stomach. 'I really did attack Mr. Weasley last night, I did it. Voldemort forced me to do it, and maybe he's still within me, listening to my thoughts… But how did I turn into a snake? Maybe I'm an animagus? No, no, I'd know that. But Voldemort could be an animagus. Yes, it would make sense that he'd turn into a snake, and if he took control of me- then we'd both turn!… But that still doesn't explain how I got to London and back in just five minutes. With the ANBU guarding the school, no less. Then again, Voldemort is pretty much the strongest wizard alive, except for Dumbledore. It would probably be no problem for him to get someone from one place to another.'

And then something else occurred to the Boy-Who-Lived.

'But if I'm really possessed by Voldemort, then I'm giving him a perfect view on the Order's HQ! He'll find out who is part of the order, and where Sirius is at the moment, and… I know a lot, no one should've told me about… all the things Sirius said on my first evening here…'

The decision was made quickly. There was only one thing he could do: He needed to leave! He would pass Christmas far away from the others at Hogwarts. That way, they would be safe- at least during the winter break. Then again, there were still a lot of innocent people at Hogwarts. What if Neville, Dean or Seamus were next? His stomach twisted. He couldn't risk that. As much as he hated the idea, he had to go back to Uncle Vernon, and keep away from any and all wizards. Opening his closet, Harry quickly grabbed his things to pack his suitcase. He shouldn't waste anymore time. The less time he spent at Grimmauld Place, the less likely it was that someone would get hurt. Once his things were all packed, and he noticed that Hedwig was still in Hogwarts, so he didn't have to worry about her, he started to move his suitcase towards the door. Only to be interrupted by a derisive voice.

"We run away, right?"

Phineas Nigellus had appeared in his portrait above the door, leaning against frame, and looking down upon Harry with a bemused expression.

"No, I'm not running away," Harry replied.

"I thought," Phineas Nigellus started, stroking his beard, "that those who belong to the house of Griffindor are supposed to be courageous? Looks to me, as if you'd be more suited for my house. Slytherins are courageous as well, but not stupid. For example, if we have the choice, we'll always save ourselves first."

"I'm not trying to save myself!"

"Oh, I see. What you're doing is noble…" Phineas sneered. Harry didn't pay attention to him, instead moving his suitcase until it stood directly infront of the door. "Anyway, I have a message for you- from Dumbledore… and this werewolf."

Puzzled, Harry looked up. A moment later it dawned on him that Nigellus was talking about the silver-haired ANBU Captain. With his messy silver hair, and growling attitude, plus the Wolf-mask, he did have some characteristics of a werewolf, Harry mused. Then, it sunk in what Phineas Nigellus had just said: He had a message from Dumbledore- and the guard. Harry turned on his heels.

"What does it say?"

" 'Stay where you are' "

"I didn't move an inch. So, what's the message."

"I just told you, stupid boy. Dumbledore says: 'Stay where you are'"

"Why? Why does he want me to stay? What else did he say?"

"Nothing."

Harry's anger made it's way through his body like a snake. He was tired , confused more than ever, had lived the past twelve hours in fear, relief, then fear again, and still Dumbledore wouldn't tell him a thing. So that was all, hm? 'Stay where you are' That was all they told him after he had been attacked by dementors, too. Just sit down, drink some tea, and let the adults take care of it, Harry! They wouldn't give him so much as a word, and he was getting sick of it! So sick of it! Did they think, he wouldn't be able to understand? That his mind wouldn't grasp the matter?!?

After conveying all these thoughts and feelings in a rant giving to no one in particular, he found Phineas Nigellus scowling down at him from where he stood in his portrait.

"You know," the former headmaster of Hogwarts said, "that's exactly why I hated being a teacher. You young people are so confident in thinking that you're always right. Didn't you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe Dumbledore has a reason for not telling you every little detail. Didn't you ever notice that it never harmed you to do as Dumbledore told you? No. No, of course not, because like all the other young people you assume that youre the only one that thinks, and feels. The only one to notice danger. The only one smart enough to understand what the Dark Lord might be planning for you-"

"That's enough, wizard," Raven's voice came out of nowhere. He was standing in the door, looking from Harry to his suitcase, and back to Harry. When had he come in?

"So he does have a purpose with me?" the dark-haired boy asked, defiant, but Phineas had already made it out of there- apparently Lynx's threat had made him very cautious about the guards. "Fine, then go! Leave!"

"Curiousity kills the cat, Potter. Ever heard of that?" the bluish-haired boy asked. "Ever thought that people are just trying to protect you, and that you're not making their jobs any easier when you behave like a self-righteous brat?"

Harry didn't answer, but averted his eyes.

When he looked up again, he saw red, black, and white meshing into one.

Then, he lost consciousness.

And had that dream again, about the door that never opened.

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It was foggy.

Whether that was natural or the wizards had made the mist with their wands was clear to them, but they could care less. It was just another reason to transact this quickly, and leave again. Shivers ran up and down their spines, though not because of the place. It was cold, too. This country wasn't very inviting. Especially in winter. Snuggling a little bit deeper into their flak-jackets, they quickened their pace, until they stood infront of a table with three chairs. It was out in the open, but seeing as this was an old graveyard, and you almost couldn't see anything, it wasn't very likely that they were discovered. Not to mention that the nearby church was nothing but a rotting ruin.

No one would come here.

No one would find them.

Once they were done, taking in their surroundings, they looked back to the table. On one of the chairs was seated a dark-clad man. He was bare-feet, and she thought how it was that he didn't freeze in this cold. Probably some spell. He had a snake-like face, not much of a nose- unless you counted to slits in his pale skin as a nose- and blood-red eyes. Behind him their guide took his place. No one else was there. Just as promised. The remaining two exchanged a glance, before sitting down at the opposite side of the table, shrugging off their hoods as they went, reavealing pink and brown hair.

"Welcome," Voldemort hissed.

The two ANBU only gave a nod, then the girl decided to speak.

"Sensei is sorry that he can't be here himself, but the headmaster asked him into his office, and we wouldn't want to raise suspicions."

"Ah, I understand. No need to apologize," the Dark Lord's smooth voice replied. "Well, I'm sure, Severus here told you about my offer?"

The ANBU nodded again. They remembered the ridiculous amount of gold, Snape had told them about. The first thing they had done was shaking their heads at the absurdety off it all.

"What do you say, then?"

The guards exchanged another look.

"We accept," the pink-haired kunoichi replied, "-under a few conditions."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of conditions?"

"Firstly, one half of the promised money will be payed in advance," Lynx answered smugly. She could feel Eagle's raised-eyebrow-stare on her, and shrugged unnoticably, in a way that conveyed: Why not get a tip out of this, so to speak! "Secondly, no more attacks on the castle. You've seen what happens to your Death Eaters. We have a reputation to defend, after all! And last but not least, we demand to know exactly what you're planning."

Snape's face went blank. The word 'demand' never sat well with his master. They were risking the failure of this plot.

But Voldemort smiled viciously.

"Fine, why not. You may be more useful if you know," he whispered, cackling evilly. "I plan on getting something out of the ministry. A prophecy, to be exact. Unfortunately, I'll need Potter to get it for me, because only those the prophecy is about, can touch it- and it would be very stupid of me to break into the ministry myself when Fudge is so conveniently ignoring me. I need to make him come to the ministry. Fortune seems to be smiling down on me, though, as I've discovered a way to assure that Potter will be there when I need him. I just have to cautiously lure him there- through his mind."

Eagle and Lynx listened carefully as Voldemort explained further what he was planning to do. How he was plotting to give a whole knew meaning to the phrase: You're always your own worst enemy!

"We could put him under a genjutsu for you- a hallucination," the brown-haired guard suggested, thoughtfully. "We could make him see whatever you want him to see, and you wouldn't have to risk diving so deep into the boy's mind."

The Dark Lord seemed surprised for a moment, but inclined his head in a gesture of acceptance.

Once the meeting was over (they had kept it as short as possible), the two ANBU left with Snape. Frowning behind her mask, Sakura tried to get the complexety off everything into a simple equation. If Voldemort wanted to use Harry as a pawn, he needed to be inconspicious. Otherwise the boy would be put up his guard. Potter was young, not stupid. Furthermore, the Dark Lord needed to make up a very good reason in the kid's mind to come rushing to the ministry. Voldemort had alluded to Harry being very protective of his loved ones, and that he wanted to use this weakness against the boy.

Scrunching up her nose in thought, the pink-haired woman looked over to her companion, only to find him rubbing his temple underneath the mask. They had teleported back to Hogsmead, or rather into the near vicinity, and were now walking over the fields towards the castle. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Neji's strange behaviour. Lifting a hand up to lightly touch his upper arm, she made his attention turn to her. She asked him what was wrong, and received a frustrated grunt in response.

"Eagle?"

"It's nothing. Nothing that has to do with the mission anyway," he murmured tiredly.

"You can talk to me about everything, you know. We're friends."

"It's just… No, I don't want to bother you with… my problems…"

"Bother me," she demanded, yes, demanded.

"…"

"It's about your family, isn't it?" Sakura sked, already knowing that she hit home. When stoic Hyuuga Neji became this openly annoyed, it had always something to do with the Elders of his clan. "What have they done this time?"

"I…It's because of the marriage."

"Huh?"

"I… I just…can't…"

Sakura frowned.

"If you did anything to… your wife, then may the gods rest your soul, because I'll-"

"It's what I haven't done," Neji dead-panned.

"Huh?" Sakura asked again.

"It's…" He squirmed. Hyuuga Neji squirmed. "They'reexpectingustohavechildren."

"Come again?"

Neji sighed, took a deep breath, and repeated his last sentence:

"They're expecting us to have children."

"…So?" the pink-haired girl asked, non-plused. What was bad about having kids? She herself wanted to become a mother one day. Okay, maybe not right now, not when she was still this young, but someday…

They entered the guard's common room. It was empty.

"Hinata is my cousin," Neji replied, taking off his mask, and sending her a glare.

"Oh…" It dawned on Sakura. To have kids, you needed to… And with your own cousin… That must be an uncomfortable thought. She could understand.

Neji gave a dry laugh at her reaction.

"We've been able to avoid it till now, saying that we were to young, or too busy reforming the clan system, but…"

"That won't keep them at bay forever," Sakura finished for him. Her mask had been disregarded as well, and she was giving him a compassionate glance.

"Hardly." Neji chuckled darkly. "But I can't even think about it. She's my cousin, my sweet, little, innocent cousin. You could even go as far as to say that she's my half-sister, seeing as our fathers were twins, and they want me to…to…procreate with her, for gods' sake! But she's Hinata! This is just so wrong, the whole marriage is wrong."

"But if you two hadn't married, your two family sides would've been at each other's throats by now. Your whole clan would've probably been wiped out."

"I know. That's why I agreed when Hinata suggested marriage. I just never thought…"

"You serious?" Sakura asked, bemused. "The thought that you were marrying the leader of your clan, who'd need an heir one day, never crossed your mind? And you call yourself a genius!"

She laughed. Neji glared, but laughed along with her, then.

"Some genius I am, hm?"

"Yeah… But seriously now. You both should try, and make the best out of it."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you can't avoid it, right? You said so yourself, one day you'll have to… you know,…" She blushed. "So, if you can't avoid it, try to make your peace with it."

"How?"

"Uhm… Well, do you think you could fall in love with Hinata? I mean, if she wasn't your cousin?" Sakura inquired.

Neji sighed. He knew what Sakura was getting at. He had thought about it as a possible solution himself. Hinata was gentle, sweet, and nice to everyone. An angel, really. Anyone would have to be a complete idiot not to fall in love with the blue-haired girl.

"She's still my cousin. I can't just overlook that fact."

"Well, you have to. Both of you have to look past the family-issue, and see the person behind it. You need to see her as a woman, a desireable woman. And she has to look at you as the man you are. That won't make it right, I understand that, so don't look at me like that, Neji. It won't make it right. Nothing ever could, probably, but it will make it easier. It will make it okay. And don't forget that we're your friends. If anyone's opinion counts at all, then it's ours. Your friends will understand, if you try, and succeed to fall in love with her. And if they don't understand, then they aren't really your friends, and their opinion doesn't mean a thing."

"Hm," was all the reply she got, but the intense way in which he looked at the flames in the fireplace, told her that he was thinking about it- and that was a beginning!

"And now, come on, let's go to the christmas feast."

Sakura took his hand to drag him into the Great Hall.

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On Christmas Eve, Hermione had arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, and forced Harry to talk to his friends again. Which is why, they were all sitting in Harry's and Ron's room now, even Fox and Raven had come, and shifting in the uncomfortable regreted, having obeyed to Dumbledore by now. Since he had had that dream again, running along that corridor towards the door, where he had attacked Mr. Weasley, he felt dirtier than ever. Hermione broke the silence to tell them news.

"Dumbledore told me what happened yesterday morning, but I had to wait until the holidays officially started to come. Umbridge is already fuming, because you all vanished right under her nose, though Dumbledore explained to her that was very ill, and gave you permission to visit him at home. She didn't really believe him, I gather. Tried to corner every teacher, or guard, and make him, or her tell her what really happened. Lynx, and Eagle even disappeared completely from sight this morning for a few hours. Tried to get away from the annoying Toad, if you ask me…"

"Couldn't blame them," Ginny grinned, then turned to Harry to ask how he was doing.

"I'm fine."

"Oh, stop lying, Harry," Hermione scolded him. "Ron and Ginny told me that you were avoiding them since you eavesdropped on their father."

"Oh, really?" he asked dryly, glowering at the Weasley kids. Ron averted his eyes towards the ground, while Ginny met his gaze head-on.

"It's true, isn't it?" Fox asked from the sidelines, a sad tone in his voice. That tone alone made Harry want to apologize. The blonde boy was normally the most cheerful out of all the guards. "And you won't even look at any of us."

"You're the ones that wouldn't look at me!" Harry defended himself.

"Maybe you all just look at different moments, and miss each other every time," Hermione supplied.

"Very funny," Harry said.

"Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself all the time, Potter!", Raven snapped at him.

"The others told me what they've heard-"

"Oh, they did, didn't they? Have been talking about me, haven't they? By now, I'm getting used to it."

"We wanted to talk with you, Harry," Ginny clarified, "-but seeing as you always hid away from us-"

"I didn't want anyone to talk with me!"

"That was a little bit stupid, since I'm the only one you know who was ever possessed by Voldemort, and who can tell you how it feels."

'This is news,' the guards thought, exchanging a glance. 'Yet another thing, Dumbledore forgot to mention…'

"I…forgot."

"Lucky you," Ginny replied coldly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, and he meant it. He really had completely forgotten that Ginny had been through it all. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner? "And… do you think…that I'm possessed?"

"Depends. Can you remember everything you did? No black-outs?"

He thought this one through very carefully.

"No."

"Then, you were not possessed."

"Plus, I can guarantee," Raven dead-panned, "-that you did not leave the castle that night. Eagle, and I were on watch duty, and we were keeping an eye on you- closely. We would've noticed."

Harry couldn't believe it. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. He was not possessed. Voldemort didn't have any power over him. Relief washed through him like a flood, easing his mind and soul. Then the dream came in mind, but his friends argued that he had had such 'visions' before. However, Harry replied that he had been the snake in that dream, and that Voldemort probably transported him to London and back.

"One day," Hermione huffed, "one day, you'll read 'Hogwarts: A History' and then you'll know that you can't disapparate from Hogwarts."

"But the guards do it all the time," Harry shot back. "Maybe Voldemort has found a way as well-"

"I already told you," the blue-haired guard repeated, annoyed. "You didn't leave your bed that night. If someone had tried to get you away from the castle, we would've noticed."

"How?" Harry snapped. "You were patrolling the hallways, you weren't there."

"We have our ways, Potter," Fox chuckled. "A little faith in our abilities, please. Besides, Eagle tried to wake you up for five minutes before you finally showed a reaction. You were definitely in your bed, kiddo."

Ron nodded eagerly.

"Chrm, chrm," came a voice from the door, and every occupant of the room flinched.

"I had asked you to stop doing that, Bear!" Raven snapped at the brown-haired man.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Genma replied, grinning underneath his mask. "Anyway, dinner's ready. Come on."

In less than a second, the room was empty!

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Kakashi stood from his seat at the only table in Hogwarts' Great Hall. There were so ridiculously few students that it was decided to remove the other tables from the hall. He was about to excuse himself when a strangely-clad woman pointed an accusing finger at him from the other side of the table. Raising an eyebrow, he found he couldn't possibly concentrate his attention on the woman. Her parfume was way too strong, but it made it easy for him to recognize her.

She had to be the Divination teacher!

"Can I help you?" he asked, bored.

"You!" she screeched.

"Me?" he asked.

His subordinates snickered.

"You! You have a great duty to your people!" she spoke dramatically.

"Hasn't everyone?" Kakashi asked, getting annoyed.

The other ANBU listened, intrigued.

"Your task doesn't sit well with you," the woman continued.

"Oh, really?" the silver-haired man retorted wryly.

"It is joyous, but you hate it. It brings life, but to you it is like death."

Kakashi tensed. That was a little too close for comfort.

"You will complete your mission, you'll find something lost on the way, and at the end, you'll run out of excuses-"

"Sensei without excuses? Impossible!" Sakura smirked.

Kakashi shot her a glare.

"Your life has been bloody, your hands reek of the death they brought, but they'll hold life as well, and-"

"That's enough. Thank you for your kind words, but I'd rather not know. Nobody should know too much about their future," Wolf explained, then 'poofing' away.

"Did I say something wrong?" Trelawney asked, looking around the table.

'That raises her score of real visions to three, I guess,' Dumbledore thought, as Cat excused herself from the table as well. 'I should definitely offer her a raise in salary.'

"Chrm, chrm," the 'Pink Punk' asked. "Excuse me, my dear. What do you mean?"

3333333

It had obviously been their first christmas celebration, seeing as the guards stared in awe at the many decorations Mrs. Weasley and Sirius had set up. The two magic-users had ushered everyone out of the salon, and dining room from early afternoon on, as to not be disturbed. The ANBU, normally stoic and impassive- maybe except for Fox and Lynx- dragged their gazes wildly through the room, everyone could tell, even with the masks on to cover their faces. Their surprise grew when Mrs. Weasley gave each of them a gift ready to be unwrapped, and set some more aside to bring their comrades at Hogwarts at the end of the holidays.

As Harry had guessed when they opened it, the guards found Weasley-sweaters. All in black and with their codenames in white on it.

Naruto was so touched, he hugged Mrs. Weasley half to death. Ino bowed politely with a 'thank you' on her lips. Sasuke 'hn-ed', but pulled it over his head, nonetheless. Sai didn't say anything, which earned him a light slap on the arm from Ino, which in turn made him bow as well. Yamato and Genma just chuckled, saying they should introduce this feast back home, and pulled the warm clothing over their heads. ANBU uniforms weren't the warmest clothes you could wear during a cold winter.

Harry himself was more than just satisfied with this christmas, though getting a homework-planner from Hermione. Lupin and Sirius had given him a series of books about defensive magic, and Harry had laughed. His godfather really did want him to rebell against Umbridge's regime, and he had sayd something about Lupin not liking her very much. The Boy-Who-Lived looked over the first few pages, and decided to use it during his DA meetings. Hagrid had sent him a purse with fangs that was probably supposed to keep his money safe from thieves, but unfortunately Harry couldn't even put any money into it, unless he wanted to lose a few of his fingers. Tonks' gift was a miniature firebolt that could actually fly, but was of course nothing compared to the real thing. Even Dobby had given him something, though Harry was still trying to figure out what he had tried to draw exactly.

"Could be you," he heard someone behind him say.

Turning around, he saw who else, but Squirrel. The residing wizards had already noticed that he wasn't the most polite person. The other guards had apologized for him time and again, saying that he was still learning to have feelings at all- which, to Harry, sounded quite odd. How could someone more or less his age be 'learning' to have feelings? The dark-haired boy was about to reply something, but forgot what he had wanted to say when he heard a wail behind him.

"What-"

"Percy sent the sweater back," Fred whispered into his ear before Harry could finish asking.

"We should leave her alone for a while," George added, and they turned around. The last thing they saw before the door closed behind them, was how Sirius and Lupin, and even Lion tried to comfort the generous woman. They walked down the hallway, intent on being as silent as possible when they passed the picture of Sirius mom. Apparently, they still didn't know, where to take it, though Lynx had taken it down from the wall for them. Ron noticed something in Hermione's hands.

"What is that?" he asked, curious.

"A gift for Kreacher."

"Oh…Wait! What?!? I hope it isn't clothing, you know we can't let him go. He knows to much."

"Don't worry, it's just a cover I made. It'll give his bedroom a little colour."

"He has a bedroom?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Yes, he has," the bushy-haired girl replied, but when they reached the house-elf's hideout, he wasn't there. And no one would see him for a few days…

333333

She found him in his quarters, looking out of the window; down on the snowy fields and the frozen lake. His mask had ben layed down upon his desk, his boots stood by the door, and his gloves were thrown onto the bed. He was standing bare-feet on the blue carpet. He didn't acknowledge her entering, his attention didn't waver from the landscape, not even when she was standing beside him, almost close enough to feel her. Warm and real. She remained distanced from him, not touching. Maybe afraid to touch, and have him scramble away from her. Afraid of rejection, who knew.

_"It looks so peaceful."_

_"…"_

_"I wonder how Konoha looks at the moment?"_

_"…"_

_"It's probably summer by now, so everything is green and full of life."_

_"You're avoiding it,"_ she finally said, sounding hurt. He felt guilt nag at him instantly. _"You don't have to talk to me, but don't make up excuses with me."_

Sayuri turned around to leave, reckoning that he wasn't ready to talk about it, and not wanting to push him. She hadn't even made a step towards the door when she felt his hand grab hold of hers, fingers enterwining with hers. He still wouldn't look at her, but tugged gently at her hand, signaling her to stay. To come back. To touch. She turned, moving into him again, stopping only when she felt his thigh brush against hers. His hand didn't let go, just squeezed her own for a moment.

_"You'll probably hate me."_

_"I could never."_

_"It's ridiculous."_

_"It isn't, to you."_

_"It's supposed to be a happy occasion."_

_"Depends on the point of view."_

_"It's supposed to happen out of your own free will."_

_"Many things should be, but in the end, they just aren't."_

_"… I don't want to lose you as my friend,"_ he told her.

_"You could never lose my friendship,"_ she replied, _"…but you could gain something more."_

He chuckled.

_"What is it that Tsunade wants?"_

_"She wants… and you have every right to laugh- she wants me to…"_

**End of chapter 14!**

**A/N: Back from my Christmas Break with a cliffhanger! Yay, I'm evil! I hope you liked it. Please leave a review!**


	15. Christmas Part II

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

Chapter 15: Christmas at Hogwarts and Grimauld Place (Part 2)

Sayuri wanted to laugh.

That didn't happen often nowadays, but at the moment she could hardly contain her laughter. This was what Kakashi was making such a fuss about?!? She could see, why it didn't sit well with him, why it even made him angry. If the Hokage would ask her, she wouldn't like it very much either, but allowing himself to get affected this much by it, was just so… un-Kakashi-like that it seemed laughable. She wouldn't laugh, though. It was important to him, even if in an unpleasent way. It irked him, and she respected that. She could sympathize with him in that department. She'd been on such a mission herself, and didn't enjoy it in the least!

Well, okay, maybe not exactly such a mission, but similar.

As for the other thing…

_"She gave me a year to choose a… Aren't you going to laugh?"_ he asked.

_"Why would I laugh?"_

_"You want to, I can see it in your eyes, and I did tell you that you could."_

_"I won't laugh."_

_"…Thank you."_

_"Not for that."_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"Aren't you going to say anything?"_

_"Do you want me to say something?"_

Kakashi sighed. There they were again. She was putting him first, his wishes. She should know, though, that she could tell him anything. She was his friend, she was supposed to tell him when he was acting childish. Why wouldn't she just laugh at him, and call him silly? Why did she have to be so damn sympathetic?!? He hated it, yet it was what made her special to him.

_"It's supposed to be an honor,"_ she suddenly said, a bemused gleam in her pearl-white eyes.

She was reading him again like an open book. She had always been able to do that. At first, he had hated it, and tried his best to make it end. Back then, the two of them still disliked each other very much. His little plan never worked, though. Even with all his masks on, and walls up, she had still been able to practically read his mind. It had irked him to no end, even more so since he couldn't read in her eyes at all. The pale orbs of the Hyuuga clan seemed to be mirrowing the outside world instead of the soul of their bearer. Only once he had gotten to know her, had he learned to understand her expressions.

Kakashi sighed again.

_"An honor I never asked for, nor wanted… Plus, if- no, when Naruto finds out, I'm so done for."_

_"As for the second request," _she continued as if he hadn't said anything, the smirk plastered on her face telling him that she had heard, though, _"…you were right. It's supposed to be a happy occasion, preferably happening out of your own free will."_

_"…"_

_"I can understand the Godaime, though. The village needs you, Kakashi, but you won't live forever. Actually, it's quite an achievement to be over thirty, and still alive. Without having lost any limbs too."_

He couldn't help the dry chuckle escaping his lips.

Silence fell in between them, during which they just stared into each other's eyes. When Sayuri's hand came up, Kakashi caught it in his, raising an eyebrow curiously. He could see her roll her eyes at him, and attempt to drop her hand again. He didn't let go. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow at his antics, now. Chuckling, he lifted his other hand to slip his mask off his face until it pooled around his neck. Still holding her hand in his, he rested it against his armor, right atop his heart.

_"Is it really that bad?"_ Sayuri asked softly.

_"Depends."_

_"On what?"_

_"Will you be my partner on this 'mission'?"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"Oh, no Kakashi!"_ Sayuri laughed. _"You won't get off that easily. If that's what you wish, you'll ask properly."_

She grinned at him. He sighed. He had his answer, but she would make him ask the much-dreaded question directly. Maybe eleven years ago this wouldn't have been so difficult. Eleven years ago, she didn't have such pain in her heart, of losing a child. Then again, eleven years ago she had almost still been a child herself. Sixteen. She had been sixteen, he had been twenty-one. They had been seeing each other in the romantical way since she came to him for that god-foresaken mission with the pedophilic ring.

Did that make a pedophile out of himself? He hadn't touched her after that, except for a few kisses, and much cuddling, but…

When had he first fallen for her? He didn't remember.

_"I'm not good at this."_

_"Try."_

He sighed. Taking a deep breath, he asked:

_"Well…uhm…marry me?"_

Leaning her forehead against his, Sayuri just smiled.

He drank it away with a kiss.

It was all the answer he needed. The hand that had pulled down his mask, came up to cup her cheek gently as he molded against her soft lips, and plundered her mouth with his tongue. Her arms slid around his neck, her hands fisting in his soft silvery har, immediately accepting and reciprocating his passionate caress. There was no fight for dominance. They were both equals, their tongues dancing to an all-consuming rhythm only they could hear. Kakashi didn't lead, and Sayuri didn't follow, instead they responded to each improvised move of the other. Relishing in the dormant feelings it awoke.

It had been so long.

Breaking up for air, Sayuri found herself swept off her feet quite literally. His arms were closed tightly around her.

_"Now."_ Kakashi panted._ "How about that shower?"_

Shaking her head amusedly, she slapped his arm.

3333333

(Grimauld Place; some time prior)

Naruto bounced happily when he found the warm, black pullover in his present. In all sincerity, he hadn't expected to receive any gifts, even if it was customary in the wizarding world. After all, no one had ever been kind to him before he joined Team Seven. Even nowadays the Elders and older inhabitants of the Village Hidden in the Leafs looked down on him, some going as far as to wear white grieving clothes on his birthday. Yet, the chubby red-haired woman had given him a present on a holiday they didn't even know about at home, and without any reluctance. She was obviously uncomfortable with ANBU in the house, but she was still nice and welcoming to them.

"Thaaaaank youuuuu!" Naruto cheered, enclosing the surprised witch in one of his bear-hugs.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, slipping the garment over his head.

"Isn't this so cool?!?" Naruto continued.

"Hn."

"Yeah, I like them, too… Oi, Swan, what do you think of these nice sweaters?" the blonde shouted through the room. At the other end, Ino was just nudging Sai to bow gratefully for the gifts they received, and apologized that they didn't have anything to give them in return. Mrs. Weasley replied simply that protecting Harry, and the other kids was more than enough. Ino bowed again, and walked over to the two males.

_"Well, they're certainly nice…"_ she started, _"…but we can obviously not wear them at home. At least not in public. I mean, pullovers with animal-names on it? Come on, that just screams ANBU… But I guess, when it's just between us, or with other ANBU, we can wear them, no problem. And in this country, they'll definitely come in handy, keeping us warm and such…"_

"Hm, yeah," Naruto answered a little dejected.

_"We shouldn't tell Mrs. Weasley, though. She's tried so hard," _Ino replied, pulling the garment over her head, and snuggling into it with a warm shiver. Turning to the rest of the room, they could see Genma and Yamato saying their thanks. The black sweaters were already covering their bone-white armors, and the trio couldn't help, but think that Mrs. Weasley had made them for this purpose as well. Chuckling, the ANBU realized they must look very intimidating, and pretty much like skeletons in their standard attire. Dragging her look through the room, Ino saw Sai talking to Harry, who was holding up something that looked suspiciously like a painting. Groaning inwardly, the blonde woman was sure that Sai would say something tactless, but because of the mask, she could obviously not read from his lips what it was.

Harry's insulted expression was proof enough, though.

When a wail echoed through the room, Ino's attention quickly shifted from the arguing boys to Mrs. Weasley. The chubby woman was holding up a green pullover with the name 'Percy' on it, and crying loudly. Yamato and Lupin-san were already standing, trying to comfort the poor woman. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry, and the other kids leave the room, and motioned for Naruto and Sasuke to follow them. The two ANBU agents nodded silently, not able to think of anything that would help the woman anyway, and left the room. Meanwhile, Ino waled over to Genma to ask what was going on, exactly.

"Apparently, her eldest son is siding with the ministry," was all the brown-haired shinobi replied.

"Oh, I see."

"…Did you check on Mr. Weasley already?"

"I gave him some sleeping pills. I know, he would've liked to spend this holiday with his friends, and family, but he's still too weak for it. I have just given him the right blood-pills, but it'll take a little until he'll regain his full strength, so I insisted he spend the night sleeping soundly."

"I see."

"I could wake him up, if you think he could-"

"No, he can't do anything. Let him sleep."

"Okay."

She turned to leave, but Sai's comment stopped her.

"Why is she crying? It's just a sweater."

Genma and Ino exchanged a glance before sighing. The brown-haired ANBU Captain shook his head, and took his leave. He wasn't in the right mood to deal with Sai's learning process, he needed some sleep. The wizarding world, and not to mention the lack of his beautiful wife in his bed were driving him crazy. It was even possible that he would miss the birth of his first child, goddammit! Entering the hallway, he found the portrait of Sirius Black's mother glaring at him. Apparently the curtains had slipped. Since Sakura had had a 'talk' with the insufferable witch-painting, she hadn't dared say a word anymore. He shrugged it off, though it did surprise him that the tiny green creature wasn't there to talk to her. As he was on his way upwards, one of Sai's painted birds that were guarding the house, came to rest upon his shoulder, whispering into his ear.

_"So, Kreacher left to find Madam Lestrange, hm? Very well. It seems that things are going according to plan, then. The mission promises to get intresting from here on… Go tell the others, and then make your way to Hogwarts. I'm sure, Old One-Eye would like to know about this new development."_

Without further ado, the ink-bird scurried off.

333333

(Meanwhile at Hogwarts, Great Hall)

"Chrm , chrm," the 'Pink Punk' asked. "Excuse me, my dear. What do you mean?"

Her toast falling from her shaking hands, Lynx turned to the insufferable Toad-woman, about ready to pound some sense for privacy into her, but Eagle and Deer seemed to have noticed her intentions because their hands grapsed the pink-haired woman's arms to hold her down. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Neji shaking his head. Beating the woman into a bloody pulp just wouldn't do, even if she was sticking her nose into matters that were none of her business. Growling lowly, Sakura nodded at her superior, though still animated by the sole wish to stuff an unwashed sock into the High Inquisitor's mouth.

"Huh?" was all that left Professor Trelawney's mouth.

"About Wolf's future, my dear?"

"Wolf… What Wolf?" the dishevelled woman with the big glasses asked.

The ANBU raised an eyebrow.

"The guard, my dear," Professor Umbridge answered sweetly. "The one who's future you were predicting just a moment ago."

"I… I predicted his…future?"

"Yes, my dear," the 'Pink Punk' replied a little forcefully.

"But I don't know any Wolf? I've never seen one, I mean… He surely wasn't in my tower…"

"Lucky him," Sakura murmured, loud enough for her comrades to hear. They snickered.

"But you just fortold his future!" Umbridge screeched angrily.

Professor Trelawney flinched.

"Oh…Oh, yes, I can see him… He…He's in great, great danger, a dark-"

"No!" Umridge yelled. "This rubbish is not what I want to hear. What did you see about his future?!?"

"Now, now, there is no need to yell. Yelling is so troublesome," Deer suddenly spoke up.

"For once, I agree with Deer," Eagle continued, rubbing his temples. "Now sit down, and shut up."

Chuckling, Umbridge rose to her full height which wasn't that impressive, really, and braced herself against the table with one tiny hand.

"I'm the first Undersecretary of the Minister, and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. I don't take orders from some guard."

The three ANBUs, the students, and teachers stared at Dolores Jane Umbridge, the woman that hadn't learned her lesson the first two times, dumb-founded for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, there was a loud 'thud' as two long, thick needles embedded themselves into the wooden table, exactly between her index and middle finger, and her middle and ring finger. The Toad-woman turned from bright red with anger to pale as a corpse in a second. Eagle had now stood up as well, which made Umbridge's height all the more ridiculous.

"Then maybe…" he said, obviously smiling underneath his mask. "…maybe, you'll take orders from a trained assasin. Now sit down, and stop being so…troublesome."

Seating himself again, he earned a very dark glare from his pink-haired companion. Neji shrugged, arguing that he didn't really hurt her at all, which led Sakura to point at the table where Umbridge's hand had been. And indeed, there it was. A tiny red stain on the dark wood. The young Hyuuga scratched his masked cheek in embarrassment, laughing forcefully, and about to say something when a flock of owls and one hawk-like bird came flying down from the cealing to land infront of the guards. Raising an eyebrow, the ANBU took the packages from the owls, and looked inside.

They were presents.

By now, the students had gathered around the masked shinobi, all too eager helping them to open their mail.

"Here's a card," a boy Sakura identified as Dean Thomas called.

"Here's another!" a smaller boy said, respectfully.

"Give it to me," Lynx told Dean. The boy did as he was told, and handed her the card. The pink-haired girl opened it, and read it to her comrades.

"Dear Guards,

thank you for taking your time, and keeping the children out of trouble. Making these for you was the least I could do, I thought. They'll keep you warm during your watch.  
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yours sincerely,

Molly Weasley"

Taking the other letters from the students that were holding them towards her, she checked the names, and found that they came from families who's children were in the DA. Smiling, she turned to Deer, and asked him to help her unpack, seeing as Eagle was occuppied talking with the black hawk-like bird that was undoubtedly one of Sai's creations. The pineapple-headed boy muttered another "Troublesome", then helped his pink-haired friend. Unpacking the many gifts, they found mostly chocolates or other sweets, a few had even taken the time to bake muffins or cakes for the guards. Then there were scarfs, and gloves- apparently the DA members had described their uniforms to their parents. And when Sakura and Shikamaru found 's sweaters, they didn't hesitate a second to put them on, noticing immediately how much warmer than their flak-jackets they were.

Sakura couldn't help, but feel a little bad, though. These people put so much trust in them, and they were going to betray it so easily- more or less...

"Lynx," Neji's voice broke her out of her reverie, the ink-bird still sitting on his shoulder. "Go get Wolf and Cat. They'll want to hear this. Plus, I think they might want to get their sweaters as well."

Sakura nodded, 'poofing' out of the Great Hall, and into the Guards common room. Once there, she walked over to Kakashi's door, sure she would find him and Sayuri sitting on the bed, talking. When there was no answer, she opened the door a crack to see that there was no one inside. Puzzled, she entered the room to get a better look. Still, no one to be seen. Where was her sensei?

'Maybe, he hasn't come here after excusing himself?' Sakura mused. 'Huh? What was that?'

Turning towards the door that seperated the bedroom from the attached bath, she concentrated, and then she heard it. The shower was running. Apparently, her sensei was taking a shower to relax. Well, she surely couldn't blame him, with all the things Trelawney had said in the Great Hall. She would've needed a calming bath as well. She still wanted to know what all that was about, though. Plus, she had an order to obey. She would just have to fight down the embarrassment of standing in her sensei's bathroom, while he was showering…

Sighing, she opened the door.

_"Uhm… Sensei, Neji said you might want to-"_

The young woman stopped dead in her tracks, and for a few seconds the occupants of the bathroom just stared at each other, a hot blush creeping onto the face of one of them. A second later, Sakura was in control of herself once more.

_"Now, where's a camera when you really need one?!? This is a perfect picture for blackmail,"_ the young woman mused, hand raised to her masked, and still very flushed cheek. But could you blame her? It wasn't every day that you found both your teamleaders together in the shower covered by nothing but steam, bubbles and the water running down the glass walls of the shower.

Not to mention Kakashi-sensei, unmasked.

Sure, she had seen his face without his cloth-mask before on her Sweet Sixteen. Her sensei had been on a mission the month prior, and had had no time to get a present whatsoever, and it just didn't do to show up at her party without giving the birthday girl her gift. So, he had asked her what she would like, and she had said, as long as he gave her her birthday kiss it was fine. Man, had he been surprised. He had been sure, she would ask for his mask to go. Chuckling at her thoughtfulness, he had gently kissed her cheek, but not before sliding down his mask, and giving her the time to properly gape at him.

Whether he did that to please her, or just to annoy the hell out of the rest of their team with the dreamy expression she had had on her face for the next few days, she would probably never know.

The man was a god!

Clearing his throat, said sensei got the young woman's attention. Behind him, she could see Sayuri grinning cheekily.

_"Was there something you wanted to tell us, Sakura?… Or did you come here to watch?" _Kakashi asked too casual, a smirk plastered on his face.

Sakura blushed all over again, cursing the hentai under her breath.

_"Neji wanted me to tell you that there's a message from Yamato and the others. The Toad-woman has questioned Professor Trelawney about her vision of your future, but thankfully the woman doesn't seem to remember. She didn't even remember you existed… Oh, and I almost forgot. There are presents for us down there, but I'll just tell Neji that you'll run late as usual."_

Without another glance, she disappeared into a puff of smoke.

333333

On the last day of their vacation something shattering happened to Harry. He had just been playing wizard chess with Ron when Mrs. Weasley told him that Snape was waiting for him in the kitchen. All the way down, the Boy-Who-Lived asked himself what he might have done, but couldn't come up with anything. Upon entering the kitchen, Harry found not only Snape but also Sirius, whose mood had gone from bad to worse with every passing day. He didn't want to be left alone with Kreacher again. The house-elf had reappeared on the attic, dusty and looking for more heirlooms of the Black's.

"Sit down, Potter."

"Listen," Sirius spoke up immediately, "I'd prefer it if you wouldn't give orders in my house."

"I was supposed to talk to you alone, Potter," Snape continued while an angry red creeped onto his face, "…but Black…"

"I'm his godfather."

"I'm here on Dumbledore's orders," Snape replied calmy, but irritatedly. "But, please, do stay, Black. I know you like to feel…involved."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Only that you're surely frustrated that-"

"Enough," Lion's gruff voice interrupted the little argument, before it could get out of hand. "You're here for something specific, Snape-san, I'm sure. Now, get on with it."

Clicking his tongue, Snape returned his attention to Harry.

"The headmaster thinks it wise that you learn occlumency, Potter."

"Occlu-what?"

"Occlumency. The magical defence of one's mind against outside influence. It's not a very known branch of magic, but it's very useful."

"Oh, okay. Who'll…Who'll be my teacher?" Harry asked, almost dreading the answer.

"I will."

'What did I do to deserve this?' Harry asked himself, as disgust churned in his stomach.

"Why you?" Sirius inquired. "Why not Dumbledore?"

"Probably because it's the privilege of the headmaster to disregard the unpleasent tasks onto someone else's shoulders. I guarantee you that I didn't ask for it." He turned to Harry again. "I'll await you on Monday at six. In my office, Potter. Should someone ask you, you're taking extra lessons in Potions. Everyone who has seen you in my class knows that you'd need them."

He grabbed his coat, but Sirius halted him.

"What is it, Black? I don't have so much free time?"

"Then I'll get straight to the point. If I hear that you use these lessons to make Harry's life a living hell, I'll-"

"Enough," Lion barked again. "You're two adults, can't you control yourselves?!? You're on the same side, restrain your hatred, and work together. As a team."

"I don't trust him," Sirius admitted.

"That would be a line for an ANBU operative, yet I have no problems with saying that I do trust my comrades. If you can't overlook your differences, you'll never work as a team, and this Voldemort-guy will have an easy game with your world. If the Order, which is supposed to protect people from this terrible wizard, is unable to work properly, who will protect your people then, your loved ones, hm?"

Silence ensued, until Snape slipped into his coat, and walked out the door.

A moment later, the whole Weasley Family plus Hermione walked into the room, a very tired looking Swan being held up by Fred and George.

"I'm healthy again. Completely healthy!" Mr. Weasley shouted happily while the twins helped the blonde woman into a seat.

"Swan?" Lion asked, carefully.

"There were still remnants of poison in his system. That's why he was still so weak. When I finally realized what was going on, I destroyed the poison with my chakra, but finding such small amounts of venom wasn't easy, and the poison was pretty resistant at first. I'm just glad that's over. I could sleep for a couple of days!" the woman replied, exhausted.

"But she did it!" Fred cheered as he, and his brother lowered her into the chair.

Ino sent him a smile, the Weasley couldn't possibly see.

While everyone gave Mr. Weasley his congratulations, Harry told Ron and Hermione about his new subject. The bushy-haired girl immediately concluded that Dumbledore wanted Harry's strange dreams to stop, while Ron argued that he'd get nightmares from having to go to an extra class with Snape. Harry himself couldn't quite decide what to think about not having those dreams anymore. He contemplated it silently until he went to bed, yet didn't seem capable of making up his mind.

The next day, the Hogwarts students met up in the salon with all their bags, and suitcases, and owl, and cats, and what else. The ANBU just shook their heads at the whole mess, but didn't say anything. Instead, they asked the children to move the furniture to the sides, which they did, curious as to what the guards were planning on doing.

"Aren't we using a portkey?" Ron asked, confused as he saw Bear take out a scroll.

"Another unauthorized portkey? From the HQ no less? You must be kidding, boy!" Genma laughed at him. "You're traveling to Hogwarts the same way, we got here. By using a Transportation Circle."

"Ugh!" could be heard from Swan. "I don't envy you. Those things are more uncomfortable than a bed of nails! Better prepare for a rough ride, kiddos!"

The wizards and witches gulped.

"Can't be helped, though. It's the safest way to travel for you." Lion told them, somewhat apologetically.

Squirrel snickered.

"You, mister, are enjoying this way too much!" Ino chided him, poking his pullover-covered chest with her index finger.

Sai just shrugged.

Meanwhile, the kids were looking at Bear's preparations intently. He had put the scroll in the middle of the room, and slipped one of his hands free from his glove. Placing the black cloth onto one of the couches at the side, he took out a senbon and pierced his thumb with it. Crouching he started to draw some sort of a pattern on the floor with his blood, with the scroll as it's center. The Hogwarts students weren't sure if they should be awed by this, or disgusted. I mean, he was drawing with his own blood, and it reminded Harry a lot of Umbridge's detention. Once done with the strange symbol, he painted a circle around it, and a square around the circle.

"Please stand with your belongings within the circle," Genma told the gaping kids.

Exchanging glances before being ushered on impatiently by Fox and Raven, the magic-users took their places within the pattern. Raising his eyebrow, Harry watched as the four remaining ANBU moved to sit cross-legged in the little triangles between the circle and the square. Resting their hands together as if they were praying, the shinobi started to concentrate. Wind began to blow through the room, but within the circle it was calm. The room became pitch-black as if it wasn't even there anymore, while the symbol, and patterns started to glow in a jade green colour. Suddenly, Harry felt as if every atom of his being would be split, ripped away from the rest. His knees turned weak, his sight blurry. It was painful, but at the same time it somehow wasn't. As if something dulled the pain he felt.

Still, a scream did leave his lips.

A secong later it was over. Harry found himself kneeling on soft grass, the glow fading away to leave nothing but the stain of blood on the ground. Nausea washed over his system, another green glow, and it was gone. Looking up, he found Lynx crouching infront of him, patting his head comfortingly before moving on to the other travelers. Harry turned. Fox and Raven had apparently landed on their feet, and aside from a slight shudder that could be seen to ripple through their bodies, nothing seemed to be wrong with them. Maybe you got used to this kind of travel after a certain amount of times, like you did to traveling with a portkey?

Harry could hardly imagine that.

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The Boy-Who-Lived spent the next day, mulling over all the bad things that could happen during his extra class with Snape. During his double-hour Potions said professor was just as insufferable as all the other times, the only difference being that he didn't dare even look at Lynx who was tapping her foot in barely restrained anger. When he had to tell Zacharias Smith that he had to take more lessons in Potions, it didn't help the dark-haired boy's day at all. The only streak of silver light at the horizon came when he finally understood that Cho was inviting him to go on a date with her during their next trip to Hogsmead, instead of asking when the next DA meeting was.

He felt like an idiot when the continious stares of the guards had to nudge him.

However, at six not even the knowledge of his date could help Harry overcome his disgust to go anywhere near Snape. Fox didn't see the problem, apparently, because the blonde guard ushered him forwards when Harry tried to walk as slow as possible. A little slower, and he would've managed to walk backwards. Too bad the ANBU wasn't going to allow that. They entered the dungeon, filled over and over with dead animals, and dried plants, and- to Harry's surprise- Dumbledore's Pensieve. After closing the door behind them, Harry moved to sit at the desk, Snape was already waiting for him. The guard just stood there, watching.

"Well, you know why you're here, Potter," Snape began. "The headmaster wants me to teach you occlumency. I can only hope that you're better at that than at potions."

"Understood."

"This may not be a regular class, Potter," Snape snarled. "-but you will adress me as Professor or Sir."

"Yes…sir."

"Well, as I already told you, occlumency is the ability to shut one's mind from outside influences."

"And why does Professor Dumbledore think that I need to learn it? Sir?"

"Because the Dark Lord is excellent at Legilimency -"

"What's that? Sir?" Fox added, a little unsure.

Snape glared at him.

"That's the ability to dive into someone's mind, and take emotions and memories out of a person-"

"You mean mind-reading?" Fox asked, excited.

"A human mind isn't a book, guard. You can't just open it, and read, your thoughts aren't carved into the inside of your head. Still, it is true that one can dive into another person's mind, and understand the images he finds, so that he's able to tell truth from lie. The Dark Lord for example, knows almost always when someone is lying. Only if you can shield those memories that reveal your words as a lie, you can hope to live through telling him lies."

"It's still mind-reading," the blonde guard argued, and Harry agreed inwardly, though he kept it to himself.

Snape gave an exasperated sigh that sounded suspiciously like 'moron', but if Fox noticed, he didn't let on.

"So, he could know what we're thinking at the moment?" Harry asked.

"The Dark Lord is far away, Potter. Distance is an important fact, as well as the magically protected walls of Hogwarts. All that gives us a certain safety."

"Then why do I have to learn occlumency?"

"Because the normal rules don't seem to work with you, Potter. The curse that couldn't kill you, seems to have established a… let's say a wire between you and the Dark Lord. Sometimes when you're relaxed- for example when you sleep- you share the thoughts and feelings of the Dark Lord. The headmaster doesn't think it a good idea, if it stays that way."

"But why?" Harry asked further. "I mean, I don't like it very much when it happens, but it's useful, isn't it?"

"The night you saw Nagini attack Mr. Weasley, you dived so deep into the Dark Lord's mind that Dumbledore fears he noticed you, and could take advantage of that. You were within the snake, because the Dark Lord was controlling it."

"And Voldemort could try to make me do things?"

"Don't call the Dark Lord by his name," Snape hissed.

"Dumbledore does."

"Dumbldore may feel safe enough to do so, while the rest of us…" he trailed off, rubbing his left arm where Harry knew, the symbol of the Death Eaters was. "But yes, he could. With that, we return to occlumency. Stand up, Potter. Take your wand. You may try to disarm me, or use any other spell to protect yourself."

"And what will you do, sir?"

"I'll try to dive into your thoughts. We'll see how good you are. I was told that you were able to shake off the Imperius-curse. You'll notice that this is slightly similar. Now, brace yourself."

And then Snape did it.

Suddenly, the his vision became blurry, and Harry was five again, envious as he watched Dudley ride his new, red bike… he was nine, and Ripper, the dog, chased him Into a tree while the Dursley's stood on the grass laughing… he sat under the Sorting Hat, who was telling him that he would fit into Slytherin… Hermione lay on a bed, her face covered in fur… hundreds of dementors tried to take the last bit of happy memories from him… Cho appeared under the mistletoe…

'No,' Harry thought, 'that's none of your business… You won't look in on that!'

He felt two strong arms holding him up. Snape's office came back into vision, the professor himself was rubbing his arm, his face pained. Tilting his head back, he found Fox helping him stand.

"You allowed me too deep inside, Potter," Snape chided.

"DiD you see everything I saw?"

"Partially. Whose dog was that?"

"My aunt Magda's."

"Well, it wasn't as bad as it could've been for a first try," Snape told him. "You did stop me in the end, though you wasted precious time and energy in screaming, and tHrashing. You have to be more concentrated, though. You have to shut all emotions out."

But Harry's anger, and hatred towards the man was consuming him.

Naruto sighed as he helped the boy up. This would take a while.

He watched as Uncle Vernon closed the letterbox… a hundred dementors floated over the schoolgrounds towards him… he and ran through a dark hallway towards the simple black door… he thought they would pass it, but Mr. Weasley led him to the left, and down a staircase…

"I KNOW IT! I REMEMBER!" Harry yelled.

Again, Fox was holding him up, his scar tickled uncomfortably, but his voice had been triumphant. Once he stood again, he noticed that Snape was holding his wand away from him. Apparently, he had stopped his spell before Harry even had the chance of defending himself. Now, the professor was inquiring angrily what the hell that door was doing in his mind.

"What is in the Department of Mysteries?"

"What did you just say?" Snape asked, cautiously.

**End of chapter 15!**

**A/N: Ah, we're getting to the good part... I hope you liked it! Please leave a review!**


	16. Truths Revealed

**_Hogwart's ANBU_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mount Everest or Shakespear's Hamlet( you'll see)**

**Chapter 16: Truths Revealed**

"What did you just say?" Snape asked, incredulous.

"I asked what is in the Department of Mysteries," Harry replied, excitedly.

"And why… would you ask such a thing?" It was Fox who spoke up this time. The concern in his voice was evident. He was worried for Harry, but also worried for their plan. If Harry found out too soon it would be bad for the mission, they had all agreed to this. He had to distract the boy, maybe give him some information that seemed to explain everything, yet in reality said nothing.

Harry turned to the blonde guard a little confused. What would Fox know about the Department of Mysteries? Then again, his comrades at Grimauld Place had gone there to save Mr. Weasley, and they had surely reported everything back to Wolf and the others. Not to mention that the Shinobi had definitely spied on the ministry. The Boy-Who-Lived shouldn't be surprised that the ANBU knew all about it, yet something set him off. Something about the recent behaviour of the hired guards didn't sit well with him, but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it, because nothing really changed.

There was just another atmosphere surrounding them.

An atmosphere of conspiracy.

"Because," Harry finally answered, curious as to how the two other occupants of the office would react, "…that was the hallway I've seen in my dreams for the past few months. I knew I had seen it already, but I just couldn't place it. Now I remember, though. It was when Mr. Weasley accompanied me to my hearing that we crossed that hallway… and I believe that Voldemort wants someth-"

"I told you not to say the Dark Lord's name, Potter!" Snape barked at the teen as the glowered at each other. Harry's scar began to hurt more and more with every second, but he refused to give in. Finally, Snape answered. "There are many things in the Department of Mysteries, Potter, few of them you would understand, and none of them are any of your business. Have I been clear enough?"

"Yes," Harry said, rubbing his aching scar.

But it sounded like an insult.

Once Snape had told him to meet him at Wendsday again, and given him the order to try and empty his mind every night before sleep, threatened him that he would know if Harry didn't, the raven-haired boy left the office, followed by a very cautious moving Fox. The blonde, Harry suspected, was expecting him to ask more questions any second, and mentally preparing himself to give elusive answers. Therefore, Harry didn't start asking at all. He would have to find out on his he did with the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, and all the other things he'd been through with nobody wanting to make it any easier for him. They rounded a corner, and Harry's shoulder bumped into someone else's. Both of them were flung a little to the side, and falling. They never hit the ground, though. As in Snape's office, Harry found himself hoisted up by one of Fox' strong hands on his upper arm. Blinking, he regained full consciousness. Turning his head to the side, he found a girl with long platinum-blonde hair, and big, curious looking eyes held up only by Fox' arm around her back. She also wore earrings that had the form of red radishes.

"Luna?"

"Hi, Harry," the girl answered a little more dreamily than he had ever met her. There was although a light shade of pink on her cheeks. She was apparently embarrassed to be held like this, though it was only to prevent her from falling butt first onto the dirty ground- Filch never took his task to clean the hallways very seriously. Before the scarred boy could mull over the estranged man any further, he felt a jolt go through his body when the ANBU pulled him upright again. A small groan of pain left Harry's lips at the sudden motion. When he looked up, he found the blonde guard carefully put Luna back onto her feet. At first a little angry, Harry soon dismissed it as some ancient rule in Japan about being a gentleman of sorts.

"What are you doing out so late, alone no less?" Naruto inquired.

"I was looking for my books."

"Looking for your books?" Harry and Naruto repeated dumb-founded.

The girl nodded.

"Were they magical books?" Naruto asked further. "Did they fly away?"

"Uhm… no. They just… they always disappear at some point or other, it's no big deal, but I have to write an essay for Professor McGonnagall. That's why I need to find them… I…better go look over there…" The girl pointed at some door on the other side of the hall, and was about to go when Naruto halted her movements by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"That's really mean. I'll help you find them."

"Uhm…th-thank you."

Naruto just nodded with a cheeky grin. He moved his hands together, and mubmled something the other two didn't understand. Multiple puffs of smoke later, the entire hall was filled to the brim with replicas of the blonde ANBU. Naruto quickly explained them the situation.

"YOSH! LET'S FIND LUNA-CHAN'S BOOKS!" all the clones chorused, then spread through the castle. Harry was left with a clone to walk him to the library, where Hermione and Ron were working on Umbridge's homework, while the original guard took the Ravenclaw girl by her wrist, and dragged her behind him in his quest for her books. Once the Boy-Who-Lived had gotten into the library, the shadow clone vanished in order to flee from Raven's launched attack. The blue-haired guard seemed to be literally 'pissed' at his comrade, yet nothing but an annoyed "tch" escaped his mask-covered lips. The students trying to get their homework done, interpreted the sign rightly, though, and carefully inched away from the angered ninja. The Slytherins even went as far as bursting from the room to get away from Raven. That, however, got them into serious trouble with Madam Pince who had been patrolling between the cupboards.

"How was it?" Hermione whispered, once Harry was seated.

"Seeing as he is paler than a ghost, I'd say it didn't go very well," Raven's smooth voice replied for him. And it was true. Looking towards the window, he could see his almost bloodless face with the now quite visible scar. He looked ill, and felt like it as well. He felt as if a heat consumed him from the inside, as if he had a very bad case of flu, only… worse still. Since he didn't need to answer anymore, Harry chose to tell his two friends about what he haf found out. Both listened intently, debating with him afterwards, whether or not the weapon Voldemort was seeking would be behind that door Harry had seen. When Hermione reminded them that Sturgis Podmore had tried to break into that exact department, it seemed all too clear to them, though none of them could understand why Podmore had tried to break in, since he was a member of the order.

"What is in that department anyway?" Harry asked, suddenly taken over by his curiousity. "Did your dad ever say anything about it, Ron?"

"Not really. No one knows what the ministry does there. It's all top secret-"

"Which is why you shouldn't stick your nose into their business!" Raven admonished them. He had kept quiet until now, but they needed to stop talking about that place- immediately.

"You do it as well!" Harry argued.

"I'm ANBU."

"So?" the three asked.

"It's my job. You, on the other hand, are children, students of this school, and all you should worry about is your homework, and your exams. Now, get back to that."

Without arguing, knowing that it would be futile, the kids went back to their essays, but not before returning to the Griffindor Common Room, saying it was more comfortable. The blue-haired guard didn't say anything, but just followed them. Upon entering they found Fred and George Weasley introducing their newest invention to the awaiting Griffindors. An invisible making hat. Fred placed it upon his head, and it disappeared along with him down until his neck. The crowd roared, and applauded, while Hermione wondered how he did that, and speculating that the spell wouldn't last very long. Sasuke had quite the idea who was the cause of this nonesense. Walking over to a dark corner, he found Fox standing there.

_"You put a jutsu on those hats, didn't you?"_

_"They could do it on their own, but it wouldn't last very long, just like Hermione-chan said. So, I thought, I'd help them a bit until they figured something out. It's cool, ne? "_

Sasuke grunted.

Naruto snickered, slapped him on the arm, and walked over to the Weasley Twins to get his part of the money they made with those hats. Once payed, he waved, and disappeared. The Uchiha's eyebrow twitched in irritation. First, he diregards his duty to protect the boy onto a shadow clone for only the kami knew what reasons, and now he is helping Hogwarts' Greatest Pranksters to make money. The blonde was insufferable as ever.

Meanwhile Raven could see Harry write something in a small diary that immediately chided him for not doing his homework tonight, and went upstairs. Thinking that his job was done, anyway, Sasuke was on his way out when he read Hermione's and Ron's worry-filled conversation from their lips, and then could make out an insane laughter from the dormitories.

Cursing under his breath the bluish-haired ANBU stormed upstairs, closely followed by Ron and Hermione, only to find a still cackling Harry Potter on the floor. Raising an eyebrow in the first moment, he didn't react immediately. Hermione, however, did. She crouched before her friend, and slapped him hard across the face. His laughter died down in an instant, and was replaced with feverish trembling. Broken syllabies left the boy's lips to tell them how utterly content the Dark Lord was at the moment. That made Raven's eyebrow twitch once more. He could somehow understand this sudden euphoria, since they finally got to an agreement, but a wizard as powerful as Voldemort should be able to keep his emotions in check, and from leaking out. Especially with someone able to practically read his mind around. Sasuke left the kids to report to his teammates.

This would be one long night.

When he entered the guards' Common Room, his teammates were already there, enjoying a little rest. Dumbledore had insisted, they should treat themselves like human beings, and take an hour to relax every once in a while, as long as they told him beforehand. So now, Neji was sitting in a chair opposite to Shikamaru. They were playing wizarding chess, while Naruto cheered for the tiny figures when they battled. His big blue eyes were alight with childish fascination. Kakashi was sitting on the couch, reading his perverted book as always, with Sayuri's legs across his lap as she was slowly dozing off. Sakura was reading as well, though it was certain that she wasn't hiding an Icha Icha book behind Shakespear's Hamlet. Everyone looked up as he entered, letting his mask fall off his face. It hit the wooden table with a thud, which was followed by another thud when the blue-haired boy let himself fall to the ground, exasperated.

_"What bit you?"_ Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

_"Voldemort let it slip."_

_"Let what slip?"_ Sayuri bolted upright, wide awake.

_"His happiness about the help we provided him with."_

_"You mean…"_

_"Yes."_

_"… Does Harry know the details?"_ Kakashi finally spoke up.

_"No."_

_"Then we have nothing to worry about, for now. I'll send Pakkun to Voldemort, though, to tell him to keep his cool. We can't have him putting at risk our plan,"_ the silver-haired man decided, quickly summoning his hound.

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Hermione had asked, what Voldemort could be so happy about. Her answer came with the Daily Prophet the next morning. When Harry and Ron asked her what happened, she just layed the newspaper out infront of them. On the first side was a big photograph of a triangular building in the middle of a stormy sea. Well, at least it was once triangular. One side was completely broken down, as if someone had used a giant drill against the façade. Black flames licked over the grey stone, and seemed to melt it. Small bursts of electricity could be seen once in a while, and dementors were flying everywhere. Beneath the big photograph were ten smaller ones, showing the faces of the inmates that escaped.

The title was:

**MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN**

**THE MINISTRY FEAR THAT BLACK COULD BECOME**

**A MAGNET FOR DEATH EATERS**

"Black?" Harry questioned. "Not-"

"Sssh, just read," Hermione admonished him, and so he did. He read the article, in which Cornelius Fudge states that the ministry thinks Sirius Black could've helped his former friends in the ranks of the Death Eaters to escape. How he achieved this taks, how he did so much damage to the prison's outer walls remains a mystery to be resolved.

"There you have it," Ron suddenly said. "That's why You-Know-Who is so happy."

"I can't believe this! Fudge blames Sirius for this?!?"

"What else should he do?" Hermione asked him. "He can hardly say: 'Oh, sorry, Dumbledore warned me that this could happen, the guards of Azkaban sided with Voldemort- stop whimpering, Ron- and now even Voldemort's worst allies are on the loose'. After all, he told everyone for the past year that Dumbledore is a liar, didn't he?"

While Hermione went on reading the Daily Prophet, Harry looked around. He was surprised that few of the other students were discussing the breakout, instead talking about homework, and Quidditch, and such things. Then again, not many of them received the Daily Prophet every morning like Hermione. The Boy-Who-Lived raised his gaze to the teachers' table, where he found Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall in an animated discussion, while Professor Sprout was so concentrated on the Prophet that she didn't notice her food falling into her lap. Umbridge, on the other hand, was for once completely content with eating her bowl of whatever-it-was-that-she-was-eating, while chancing dark glances at Dumbledore.

Harry's eyes wandered farther, until he found the guards that were sitting at the head of the Griffindor table. In between them there lay a borrowed copy of the Daily Prophet. Lynx was poking it with her finger, while talking to Raven. Though they seemed to be talking about the breakout, the guards seemed unperturbed by the news. To Harry they actually looked pleased with themselves, happy even. Maybe it was just, because they might finally get some action here, but for some reason Harry doubted that. His suspiciousness arose again, but he quickly drowned it in a sip of his pumpkin juice, which he spluttered all over Ron when Hermione let out a small cry.

"Eww, Harry!"

But the scarred boy ignored him.

"What is it?"

"A man called Broderick Bode in St-Mungo was killed by that horrible plant Professor Sprout used to protect the Philosopher's Stone."

"Man, whoever send that plant must be a complete idiot. He should have checked up what he bought-"

"Oh, Ron, please. I hardly believe you can put that monstrous thing into a vase without noticing that it tries to kill everyone that touches it. That was murder, and a very clever one at that. If it was sent by an anonymous person, than you can't find out who killed that poor man."

"I've already met Mr. Bode once. It was right before my hearing."

"My dad once told me that Bode worked in the Department of Mysteries."Ron added.

After a moment of silence, Hermione stood apruptly up, and walked out of the Great Hall with a more than confusing explanation, leaving Ron irritated with her antics. When they found out a second later that Hagrid was on probation, their mood did not get any better. Plus, few people seemed to care about it. In the next few days it was the breakout that occupied most of the students' minds. Those few that had read the article had taken the liberty to tell everybody they knew. The students that belonged to wizard families had learned in their youth that the names of these Death Eaters brought almost as much fear to the people's hearts as Voldemort's. Some of them were even related to one or another victim of their gruesome crimes. Rumor mill had it that they were sighted in Hogsmead, and that they would break into the school just as Sirius Black did two years prior. Those rumors were the most persistent out of all of them, and it got to the point were Wolf was finally fed up with them, and interrupted their Taijutsu lesson for a few well-considered words.

"Dumbledore hired us to guarantee your safety. We're members of the elite of the elites in our country. Can you imagine that we already took this possibility into account, and have Hogsmead checked up every night?!? And believe me, the most dangerous thing that can happen there is that you get cavities from the sweets of the Candy Shop. Now shut up, and get back to training!"

After that outburst that even got Eagle, Deer and Cat to flinch slightly at their comrade's tone, the talking on the hallways died down. Harry had noticed that it had gotten common to find two or three teachers in the hallways silently discussing this or that, and Hermione had guessed that with Umbridge there they couldn't talk freely in their own office, but even that seemed to calm down after word had spread that the guards checked the village every night. Everyone seemed more relaxed now, though Harry got even more nervous. Something was wrong with the guards lately. There was something they weren't saying… Well, there was probably a lot they weren't saying, what with the masks and all, but still… Harry thought they were acting strangely nowadays, as if they were plotting something.

Something big.

Still, whenever the Golden Trio did find some teachers in the hallways, they asked themselves if they knew something the students didn't. Of course, they wouldn't get to know anything even if the Professors did, because of the newest Eductional Decree that forbid the instructors to give any information not concerning the subject they were teaching. This led to Lee Jordan telling Umbridge she couldn't forbid Fred and George to play Games in the last row, because games weren't part of Defence against the Dark Arts. That led to Lee walking around with a bleeding hand. Harry told him to check in with the pink-haired guard, and not half an hour later Lee was as fond of life as ever.

If Harry had hoped that the mass breakout from Azkaban would make Umbridge give them a break, he was proved wrong by her constant appareances in both, Care for Magical Creatures and Divination. She was obviously working towards firing someone, be it Hagrid or Trelawney. None of them were doing a very good job, they were both on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Harry repeatedly met Trelawney in the hallways- which was strangle in itself- with a bottle of sherry in one hand, mumbling incoherently, and by Lynx frequent cursing, she was probably ordered more than once to get the alcohol out of the woman's system like a poison.

Hagrid wasn't doing better, seeing as he constantly lost his train of thought, and answered questions incorrectly, and what else. Harry was coming to the conclusion that Umbridge was taking away everything that he loved about Hogwarts: Hagrid, Letters from Sirius, his Firebolt, and Quidditch. He took his revenge in the only way he could: Giving the D.A. his all! Since the mass breakout everyone was working harder to get ready for the outside world, Neville more than anyone else. With the tormentors of his parents free, the chubby boy changed dramatically. The pink-haired guard had to heal him more often than not, so he could continue his training.

If only Harry could say the same about his progress in Occlumency, but alas he couldn't seem to get it right. Before he had started to learn Occlumency, his scar had itched once in a while. Now, however, it was constantly burning to the point that he needed a sleeping potion to get any rest at all. He also felt more bursts of happiness or anger than ever before. It was as if his spirit was more open to Voldemort now. Ron said that maybe Snape wasn't trying to help Harry, but to open him up, so that Voldemort could influence him, but Hermione argued that Dumbledore trusted Snape. With this new subject to learn, the D.A. meetings, and the Mt. Everest of homeworks they had to do.

January passed in the blink of an eye, and sent them right into February, fastly approaching the day of Harry's date with Cho. Stuck with all these things he had hardly found any time to talk to her, so he enjoyed the thought of spending a whole day with her. On the morning of February the 14th, Harry took his time to dress, in order to look decent. He and Ron entered the Great Hall to witness the arriving of the morning post. Of course, Hedwig was not among the owls that flooded the room, but when they sat down, Hermione was just reading over a letter she had gotten, before asking Harry to come to the Three Broomsticks later. He reluctantly agreed, when Hermione suggested to bring Cho along with him.

After finishing his breakfast, Harry moved towards the entrance of the school where Cho was already waiting for him. To his great annoyance Wolf was standing there as well, and it couldn't be more obvious who he was waiting for. For a moment, Harry thought about arguing, but knowing it was futile made him open and close his mouth in nothing more than an exasperated sigh.

"Hi," Cho greeted him nervously once he came to a halt infront of her

"Hi," he replied just as uncomfortable, chancing a glance at the silver-haired man that was so engrossed in Shakespear's Hamlet.

Kakashi chuckled. Whether it was because of the literature, or their situation, the students didn't know.

Harry cleared his throat.

"Uhm…well, shall we?"

"Wha- oh, uhm… yeah, let's go," Cho said alittle flustered. They passed Filch, and walked down the path towards the village. When they passed the Quidditch arena, Harry could see Ron and Ginny fly high in the sky for a second, before Cho asked im if he remembered their first encounter. The topic Quidditch didn't leave them until they reached the borders of Hogsmead, where Pansy Parkinson found it funny to shout a few insults at them, before scurrying off when she noticed Wolf trailing shortly behind them.

"Well, where do you want to go?" Harry asked.

"Oh… I don't care… How about we go looking through the shops?" Cho suggested.

At the first shop they found a poster that promised everyone some easy money if they helped finding the escaped prisoners. Cho commented how strange the absence of dementors was, seeing as how dozens of them were here when Sirius Black escaped. Harry wasn't unhappy about this development, nor surprised. The dementors had sided with Voldemort, so they pobviously wouldn't come looking for the prisoners they themselves let escape. The young pair found the same poster in every shop window they came across. At the Pet Shop they saw a very delighted Lynx scratch a tiny black kitten that she had placed in a stiffly standing Raven's arms beforehand. The poor man was seemingly uncomfortable with the cat in his embrace, especially when it started stretching, scratching over his gloved arm included, yet he didn't shove the kitten away as he was enjoying the pink-haired girl's closeness too much to care.

"Do you want to get a coffee?" Cho asked, once it started to heavily rain onto their heads.

"Sure," Harry answered, looking around. "Where?"

"Oh, over there is a nice place," the girl said, smiling. "Have you ever been at Madam Puddifoot's?"

Kakashi cringed. He remembered that place. They had really checked the village for Death Eaters, and he had had the misfortune to check that place. It was disgusting. Everything was covered in frills and bows. He was sure he could still smell the repulsingly sweet parfum of that place in his other uniform. Fortunately they had brought a few, so he didn't have to wear that other one, instead giving it to the house elves to wash it again, and again.

"Two coffee, please," Cho ordered, pointedly ignoring the silver-haired guard as they sat down beside the captain of Ravenclaw's Quidditch Team- Davies- and his unnamed grilfriend. Their coffee hadn't even arrived when the two other love-birds were already making out frantically, and Harry had the sinking feeling that Davies was setting up standarts. Wolf chuckled again as if knowing what went through the boy's head, and that he was only staring at the ceiling to avoid eyecontact with his lady.

To his luck the tiny golden angels that were throwing (konfetti / pieces of paper?) everywhere seemed too afraid of Wolf to come near them. Yet, he knew he couldn't fake interest in the ceiling for the rest of the date, so when Cho said something about Umbridge, he was all too happy to go along with it. Too bad, they had already discussed it intensively at their D.A. meetings. Another uncomfortable silence fell in between them, which Harry ended by asking Cho if she wanted to come meet Hermione in the Three Broomsticks.

If Kakashi hadn't been the excellent shinobi that he was, he would've slapped his hand over his masked face, since this led Cho to be jealous and cold. Which led to her telling Harry that Roger Davies had wanted to date her, but she refused him, just when Harry wanted to hold her hand. Then she mentioned Cedric, and everything went downhill from there. Kakashi watched as the first tears formed in Cho's eyes, anger rising in her chest, as Harry tried to explain, but could obviously only lose, and as the girl ran out the shop, leaving a very confused Harry behind. Shaking his head slightly, the silver-haired man got up, and motioned for Harry to follow him. It was time to meet Hermione. Listening to the boy's rambling over the girl's behaviour, Kakashi almost pitied him. He obviously didn't know the first thing about women, or relationships.

"When you mentioned Hermione, she got jealous, and wanted to make you jealous in return. That's why she mentioned those other guys. You should've said that you didn't want to meet Hermione, but that she forced you, and that you want her to come with you because then you could get away from Granger faster."

"Huh?"

"Yare, yare. The girl-Cho, it was?- was hurt, when you said that you would meet another girl, which is why she wanted to make you jealous. To know how much you like her."

"Why didn't she just ask?" Harry inquired as they entered the Three Broomsticks.

"Because women don't ask that kind of questions."

"Why?"

"Because they're not as bold as men."

"Well, they should be. Then I could've told her that I really like her, and that-"

"A girl?" A third voice asked invasively.

Harry looked up, only to find Rita Skeeter sitting at a table with Hermione and Luna.

"That is none of your business, so put that horrible quill back," the bushy-haired girl hissed.

Grumbling, Rita did as she was told. Then she noticed Wolf, and began eyeing him up and down, like some sort of candy stick. It was really awkward, but apparently the silver-haired ANBU didn't care. He continued reading his book, only pausing a second to order some drink, the kids were sure was alcohol-enhanced. Harry finally cleared his throat, and asked what this was about. He really didn't feel the slightest inclination to talk to Rita Skeeter, or even be in the same room as her.

"Little Ms. Immaculate here was just about to tell me," Rita retorted, taking a long sip of her drink. "I guess I am allowed to talk to him?"

"I guess so, too," Hermione replied.

"Pretty girl, Harry?" Rita changed the topic.

"One more word about Harry's lovelife, and the deal is broken, okay?"

"Deal? What deal? You didn't mention anything of that yet, you just said I should come here immediately. Oh, one day…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. One day, you will write more of your terrible stories about Harry and me. Why don't you tell that someone who cares?"

"This year there were enough terrible stories about this boy without my help. How do you feel now? Betrayed? Confused? Misunderstood?"

"He is, of course, angry. For being called a liar, because he's saying the truth," Hermione answered, before Harry could even open his mouth.

"So, you truly believe that You-Know-Who is back? With you as the only witness of his return?"

"I wasn't the only witness. There were a dozen Death Eaters there as well. Do you want their names?"

"Oh, that would be just fantastic," Rita Skeeter whispered. " 'Harry Potter accuses honorable members of the wizarding community to be Death Eaters' I can see it now… but of course, young Ms. Immaculate would never allow that."

"Actually, it's exactly what Ms. Immaculate wants."

Silence ensued. To be sure that she had heard well, Rita Skeeter asked Hermione to repeat what she just said, and the bushy-haired girl was all too happy to tell her what she wanted. The true story, how Harry tells it. The Boy-Who-Lived would give her all the needed details, and she would write it down as she heard it from him. Nothing more, nothing less, only the unalterated truth. When Rita argued that nobody would print that story, Hermione retorted that Luna's dad- owner of the Quibbler- would gladly do so. This sent Rita Skeeter into a fit of laughter, but Hermione said that some people are surely looking for a better explanation than what the Daily Prophet and the ministry are giving at the moment.

And so Harry retold the whole story.

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After what Ron, Ginny, Fred and George had told them about the Quidditch training that evening, it wasn't a big surprise when Ron failed to keep his rings safe the 14th time, or that Sloper hit Angelina, or that Kirke fell backwards from his broomstick when Zacharias Smith flew towards him. It was a surprise however that Griffindor lost with only ten points less. Ginny had been able to complete her first game as a seeker with a spectacular catch.

"Good catch," Harry complimented her in the common room later on.

"I was lucky. Summerby had the flu or something. He closed his eyes in the wrong moment. Anyway, once you get back-"

"Ginny, I'm forbidden to play for life."

"You're forbidden to play for as long as Umbridge is at this school. That's a difference. When you get back, I'll try for Angelina's or Alicia's place." Then she noticed that Harry was looking over to Ron. "Angelina still doesn't allow him to leave the team. She says, she knows that he can do it."

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On Monday morning the Golden Trio sat down at the Griffindor table for breakfast just as the mail came. Everyone was waiting for the new Prophet, eager to know any news about the still free Death Eaters. Hermione was already engrossed in her copy of the newspaper, when the first owl landed infront of him, and immediately started sipping on his orange juice. The Boy-Who-Lived was sure that the owl confused him with someone else, so he bent forward to see who it was looking for.

Harry Potter

Great Hall

Hogwarts

Raising an eyebrow, he was about to take the letter from the owl, but there were already three, four, five more of them, and the flood didn't end.

"What's happening?" Ron asked, watching the birds fight over who was to give it's letter to Harry first.

"Harry, " Hermione whispered, "- I think…I think I know what this is all about… Open this first."

So he did. Inside the package, Hermione had hold out to him, he found a copy of the newest edition of the Quibbler. A photo of him was on the front, and above that it read in big red letters:

**HARRY POTTER REVEALS:  
THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO  
AND THE NIGHT IN WHICH I SAW HIM RETURN**

**End of chapter 16!**

**A/N: Alright then! We're getting to the intresting part... I hope you liked it, and please leave a review!**


	17. The End Of Dumbledore?

Hogwarts' ANBU

**Chapter 17: The End of Dumbledore?**

HARRY POTTER REVEALS:  
THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO  
AND THE NIGHT IN WHICH I SAW HIM RETURN

"Came out well, didn't it?" Luna, who had rushed over to the Griffindor table to sit with Fred, and Ron, asked. "It was published yesterday. I asked Dad to mail you a copy for free. Those letters are probably from readers."

"Ha! I thought so," Hermione said triumphantly. "Harry, do you mind if we-"

"Suit yourselves."

Ron, and Hermione immediately went about openeing the letters, the twins not waiting to tag along with them. Sadly, the first few letters were from people, who thought he was completely crazy, and needed a good therapy. Harry and his friends were a little disappointed, but didn't let themselves become discouraged by that, instead opted to open more letters. The Boy-Who-Lived was the first to find someone that would believe him.

"This one is not so sure," Fred spoke up, letter in hand. "You don't look like a lunatic to him, but he doesn't want to believe that You-Know-Who is back, so he doesn't know what he should think of everything now. Goodness, what a waste of parchment."

"Here's another one you convinced, Harry," Hermione told him, excitedly. " 'Now that I read your version of the story, I have to reckognize that the Daily Prophet has been treating you very badly… Though I don't really want to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back, I found myself forced to acknowledge that you're saying the truth' Oh, but that's great!"

"Another one who thinks that you lost it…" Ron grunted, looking down at the paper in his hand, disgustedly, and picking up another one. "…Oh, but this one writes that you convinced her, and that she thinks of you as her hero… She even put a photograph into the letter. Wow."

"What's happening here?" a sugary voice asked.

Harry, his hands full of letters, looked up. Professor Umbridge was standing behind Fred, and Luna, and her watery eyes were wandering over the chaos all the owls created. Behind her, Harry could see a crowd of students, chancing curious glances over her shoulder. His gaze drifting to the side, the scarred boy realized that the guards were still calmly drinking their coffee, playing chess, or reading their newspaper… no, not the newspaper. They were reading the Quibbler. As he watched, Deer, who had been playing chess with Eagle, looked up at him, and nodded slightly. Dragging his gaze further, he found Fox laughing at the article in the magazine, and then giving him a not-so-discreet thumbs up.

"Why did you get all of these letters, Mr. Potter?" Umbridge's honeyed voice took him back to reality.

"Is that a crime now, too?" Naruto chimed in as he walked over.

Umbridge did her best to ignore him.

"Well, Mr. Potter?"

"People wrote to me, because I gave an interview about what happened last summer," Harry replied after a short moment of hesitation. He knew, there was no way in hell to keep it a secret. For some reason, while saying this, he looked up to the teachers' table, because he had the distinct feeling that Dumbledore had been looking at him just a second ago. When his eyes settled on the headmaster, however, said man was in the middle of a conversation with Professor Flitwick.

"An interview?" Umbridge repeated with an almost panicked undertone. "What do you mean, an interview?"

"Normally that means that a reporter asks you some questions, and you answer them," Shikamaru answered from his place at the chess board. "Really, woman, you should brush up your general knowledge."

The rest of the guards snickered. Harry handed Umbridge his copy of the Quibbler.

"When did you do this?"

"On the last Hogsmead Weekend."

"Well, there will be no more Hogsmead Weekends for you, Mr. Potter," Umbridge whispered. "How dare you… how…" She took a deep, calming breath "I tried over and over again to teach you, not to tell lies. The message didn't sink in yet, it seems. Fifty points from Griffindor, and another week worth of detention."

"No."

Everyone turned around. That was Wolf who spoke up, his face still turned to his newspaper.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Umbridge raged.

"There won't be any detention."

"You don't have the right-"

"Shut up!" Kakashi snapped at her. "He will need all the strength he has for the Taijutsu lessons from now on. I can't have him faint of blood loss, and literally drown because of your ego!… And you dare call us barbarians."

Behind Umbridge, the Golden Trio could see the blonde guard pump the air with his fist.

"You can't-"

"Do you want to discuss this outside?" the silver-haired guard asked in a calm voice, yet making it absolutely clear what was going to happen, if they really did take this out onto the schoolgrounds. Umbridge visibly paled in a heartbeat. Wolf turned another page in his copy of the Quibbler. "Didn't think so. Now that that's settled, let the brats finish their breakfast, and get ready for school, will you?"

Pressing the Quibbler to her chest, Umbridge stalked out of the Great Hall. The moment she was out the door, roaring, and cheering filled the giant room. In between all the senseless shouting, Harry could hear the pineapple-headed guard mutter a "Troublesome", before his pink-haired comrade puched the wall just slightly enough to form a split from floor to roof. Needless to say, the students fell quiet in an instant.

"Sensei told us about the interview- and the date," Fox then spoke up. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, man."

Harry nodded.

"But how did you get this published?"

"Didn't Wolf tell you?" Fred asked, surprised.

"Probably forgot to mention it."

"Her father owns the Quibbler," Harry answered, pointing to Luna.

The blonde girl flushed a little when the cheerful guard directed his intense stare at her. She dropped her gaze to the floor, and Harry was under the impression that the Ravenclaw girl was having an attack of shyness. What the hell was going on between her, and the blonde guard? Had something happened, no one knew of? Shaking these thoughts away, the dark-haired boy came back from his musings just in time to see Fox spinning the poor girl around, laughing his head off, and applauding her (with the help of a clone). Harry rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but it was still there. Fox. Luna. Spinning around. When he put the girl down, a prominent blush could be seen on her face, and down her neck.

Naruto just laughed.

"Now, finish your breakfast, and get going."

The students nodded, heading off to their respective tables to eat in silence. Later that morning they would find new placards on the boards in their common rooms:

**Eductional Decree Number 27  
****Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled.**

_The above is in accordance with Education Decree Number Twenty-seven  
__Signed by Dolores Jane Umbridge_

Everytime, Hermione read over that simple paper, her smile grew wider.

"Why are you so happy?" Harry asked, not standing to be in the dark anymore.

"Oh, Harry, don't you see it?" Hermione sighed. "The best thing she could've done to make sure that everyone in this school reads your interview was to forbid it."

And it seemed that his book-adoring friends was right. At the end of the day, Harry hadn't seen even one student carrying the Quibbler, but everyone was quoting each other some part or other. Harry could hear them whisper about it when they waited infront of the classrooms, they discussed the interview during lunch time, and even when they should be paying attention to the lesson.

Hermione told him that she had been assaulted with questions by every girl in the ladies' room, who had been intensely discussing the topic. The best part was when she told him that she thinks that they actually believed him now.

Meanwhile, Professor Umbridge snuck around the hallways, stopped one student or another, and demanded that they empty their pockets. Harry knew that she was looking for the Quibbler, but the Hogwarts students were already one step ahead of her. They had jinxed the pages of Harry's interview in a way that made them look like parts of a school book, or that they became unreadable if anyone else touched them, or that they turned blank like the Marauder's Map, until you wished to look at them again. Soon enough, it seemed that every single person in the entire school had read his interview.

The teachers were obviously not allowed to talk to him about the Quibbler since the Eductional Decree Number 26, but they conveyed their opinions in other ways. Professor Sprout gave Griffindor twenty points when Harry handed her a watering can, and a grinning Professor Flitwick put a box of sweets into his hands at the end of his lesson, making a Ssh-sound. Professor Trelawney burst into tears during Divination, and announced to everyone that Harry wouldn't die some painful death, but that he would grow very old, take the position of minister, and have twelve kids- much to Umbridge's chagrin as she sat in one corner.

Later on the same day, Cho told him that she was really sorry for the scene she had made, and how it was so very courageous of him to give that interview, before chastily kissing him on the cheek, and then running away. Then there was Seamus, who admitted to believe him infront of Professor McGonnagall's classroom, and said that he had send his mother a copy of the Quibbler.

The cream on top of the cake, was definitely the way Malfoy, and his cohorts reacted. Harry had accused their fathers of being Death Eaters, and they were fuming with rage, but couldn't do anything, because then they'd have to admit to have read the article.

But nothing, absolutely nothing could beat what he felt seeing Umbridge's expression when Wolf walked into her classroom, a copy of the Quibbler in hand. The silver-haired guard didn't even bother to greet her, just waved at the students from behind the magazin. Then, he reached for the chair, the students had since the first few lessons provided for the guards, and pulled it towards him. Scratching over the floor, it made the Toad-woman only angrier. Her standard "Chrm, chrm" announced the beginning of a very interesting class. Rubbing their hands evilly against one another, the students smirked to themselves as it became apparent that Umbridge still hadn't learned not to mess with the guards.

"Is there something you need, hikigaeru?" Kakashi asked, unconcerned.

"Your magazine…"

"What about it?" the Copy Nin inquired further. Truth be told, he wasn't really reading the interview. He had already memorized it to the smallest detail, but the other ANBU and him had agreed on annoying the hell out of the Toad-woman, so here he was, holding the Quibbler infront of his face as if it was the most interesting thing.

"You may not have noticed," Umbridge said sweetly, apparently trying to go the diplomatic way, so as not to finish with a knife against her throat again, "but it is forbidden in this school."

"I didn't notice," Kakashi lied.

"Well, it is, my dear," the hikigaeru continued on. "So, if you would be so kind to put it away, then-"

"No."

For a moment, it looked as if Umbridge was going to burst, but she controlled herself.

"But, my dear, it is forbidden here."

"It's not."

"Huh?"

"Your Eductional Decree threatens to expell every student that is found with one of these," Kakashi explained, tapping his index finger against the still uphold magazine, "but I'm no student, so it doesn't concern me."

"But-"

"Plus, I'm not **'your dear'**. I'm Cat's."

"The children-"

"-will not get a hold of this, but I will read it as much as I please. Now, time does wait for no one. Please continue with your lesson." The silver-haired man bit into his thumb, and made a few hand seals. Umbridge jumped up as if she would've seen the devil himself, and hurried over into the far corner of the room, ignoring the students snickering. Nothing happened, though. Well, nothing bad. As the guard's bleeding finger touched the surface of Umbridge's desk, a 'plop' could be heard, and there was a brown pug standing on top of the table.

'So, that's were he always comes from,' the Golden Trio thought.

"What is it, Wolf?" Pakkun asked.

But the man just held the article infront of the dog's nose. Taking the magazin inbetween his paws, and standing on his other two paws, Pakkun began to read interestedly over the interview, commenting the style, or choice of words from time to time. The rest of the class passed with some whispering from the door as guard and dog discussed the news intently. When Pakkun commented everything Harry said, on their way out, the Boy-Who-Lived wasn't sure, whether to be flattered or insulted to hear a pug's opinion. Shrugging, he just accepted it as it came.

Instead of worrying, he chose to enjoy the party the Griffindors had prepared for him.

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The week flew by, and it just got worse from then on. Harry got another two Ds in Potions, and he was still tormented by the thought that Hagrid might be fired, and he couldn't stop thinking about his lastest dream about the Department of Mysteries where he had been Voldemort himself, and had found out that the man killed by the plant- Bode- had been under the Imperius Curse, just like Sturgis Podmore. He didn't talk about this with Ron and Hermione anymore, after the bushy-haired girl had stated that they should try to forget this. He wished he could talk about this with Sirius, but that was out of question, so he tried to shove the whole experience into the back of his mind.

Unfortunately, the back of his mind wasn't as safe a place anymore as it had been.

"Stand up, Potter."

A few weeks after that last dream,Harry found himself on the floor of Snape's office, and was trying hard to get his head clear. He had just been forced to go through another set of very early memories, some of them he didn't even know were there. Most of them were humilations that he had to endure during elementary school.

"This last memory, what was that?"

"The one, where my cousin wants to force me to stand in the toilet?"

"No, the one with the kneeling man in that dark room."

"That's…nothing," Harry replied carefully.

Snape's eyes bore into Harry's head.

"How come, Mr. Potter that I find that man, and that room in your head tonight?"

"It… it was just a dream," Harry said, knowing Snape wouldn't believe him. Even Deer snorted at this ridiculous excuse.

"A dream?… You know, why we're here, Potter? Why I sacrifice my evenings time and again?"

"So that I learn occlumency," Harry grunted.

"Correct, Potter. And I thought that you may have actually made some progress in these two months of lessons. Then again, maybe you relish in the knowledge that you can take a peak into the Dark Lord's mind. Maybe it makes you feel special, important."

"No, it doesn't."

"I do hope so for you, kid," Deer said from behind. "Your teachers, and us are spending a lot of time to make sure you're safe. But even we can only do so much. You'll have to help us a little, and if that means, getting yourself away from anger, and other emotions, well, then tough, but you'll do just that. By not doing as we say, you put yourself, and everyone else into danger. Maybe you didn't get it yet, but as troublesome as it is, someone could get hurt, if you don't give this your all. Voldemort could use this against you, and your friends. Do you want your friends to get hurt? No? Then get a grip, and do something about it, troublesome brat!"

Harry looked down, guiltily.

Snape gaped at the guard.

"Well, continue, Snape-san."

Clearing his throat, the Potions' Master resumed his work with Harry. The younger boy could see images floating through his mind. Of how hundreds of dementor flew towards him on the schoolgrounds, closing in… closer… and closer still, he could see the dark holes underneath their hoods. He couldn't let this happen, though. Deer was right, he had to fight this. For himself, and for his friends. He couldn't become a pawn in someone elses hands, much less Voldemort's. Suddenly, he could see Snape standing infront of him… His eyes were open, he raised his wand.

"Protego!"

Snape stumbled- his wand flew across the room- and then Harry's mind was invaded by memories that weren't his own. **A dark man screamed at a crouching woman, while a little boy sat in the corner, and cried…a teenage wizard sat on a bed, raising his wand, and killing the flies in the room… a girl laughed out loud when a slim boy tried to ride on a defiant broom-**

"ENOUGH!"

Harry felt a blow at his chest. He fell backwards into Deer's arms. Looking back up, he could see a very pale Snape, trembling. He took deep breaths, before saying that he did well, more or less. Harry didn't say anything, but panic creeped into him when Snape suggested to try again. Would the Potions' Master use this to get his revenge for rummaging through his memories? It wasn't like Harry had been trying to get a look, but that surely didn't trouble Snape. Infact, Harry wasn't given the time to gather himself, or get his head devoid of any thought, and emotion.

"Legilimens!"

**He was running down the hallway that led to Department of Mysteries passing the dark shimmering walls, passing the torches – the simple black door grew in his vision; he was so fast, he would crash into it, one, or two steps separated him from the door, and again he could see the bluish light shining from behind it – the door had opened! Finally he could enter the circular room behind it that was illuminated by candles with blue light, but there were more doors now – he had to go on - but which door should he choose - ?**

"POTTER!"

Harry opened his eyes. Again, Deer's arms were the only thing holding him up anymore. He was panting as if he had really just run down the whole hallway, and entered through the black door to find the candle-lit room.

"Explain!"

"I don't know what happened," Harry replied turthfully. "I never saw something like that. I always saw just the door. It never opened before."

"You aren't working hard enough," Deer's lazy voice resounded through the room as he but the Boy-Who-Lived back onto his feet. Harry was about to reply, but loud noises made their way down to them from the entrance hall, and Snape asked him if he had seen something unusual on his way here. Harry shook his head. Somewhere above them a woman screamed repeatedly.

Snape flew out the door, Harry and Deer following soon enough to go see whgat happened. When they reached the entrance hall, they could see the large crowd of students surrounding Professor Trelawney, and Umbridge. Professor McGonnagall was just walking towards the first to console the poor woman. Trelawney was crying waterfalls, her hair was in disorder, and her glasses didn't sit straight on her nose. Beside her on the floor were two big suitcases, and it became apparent that Umbridge had chosen her to go first.

"This can't be true… I can't… I won't take this…"

"You didn't see this coming?" the Toad-woman replied derisively. "You may not be able to predict even the weather, but you should've been able to understand that the pathetic performance you've given until now, would conclude in this."

"You… y-you c-can't do th-this!", Professor Trelawney whined, tears streaming down her face from behind her big glasses. Professor McGonnagall rubbed her back comfortingly. "You can't fire me! I- I've been h-here for sixteen….sixteen years! Ho-hogwarts is my home!"

"It was," Umbridge replied, and she grinned evilly as she watched Trelawney turn into McGonnagalls comforting hug. "Until one hour ago when the Minister of Magic signed the papers. Now, please leave the hall."

"That won't be necessary," Professor McGonnagall said, handing a handkerchief to Professor Trelawney.

"Oh, really, Professor?" Umbridge spoke up in a deadly tone. "And with who's authority do you say that?"

"With mine," a strong voice replied. Unnoticed by anyone, Professor Dumbledore had made his way into the entrance hall, accompanied by the remaining guards. What they had done out on the schoolgrounds was beyond Harry, but just seeing them there in the entrance, the foggy night behind them, held something impressing. The headmaster let the door close shut, and walked towards the middle of the circle, where he reached the other three Professors. Fox, Raven, and Eagle chose to join Deer beside Harry.

While the the rest of their team 'poofed' in between Umbridge, and Professor Trelawney, so that the Toad was now staring at Wolf's chest, and had to lay her head back to look at the guard's masks, while he explained that only the headmaster could banish someone from the school grounds. Dumbledore told Professor McGonnagall to take the former Divination teacher back to her chambers, and Kakashi ordered Neji to take her suitcases. The brown-haired ANBU threw him a dirty glare for making him go into that evil tower, but obeyed nonetheless. Next up, the headmaster introduced Firenze, the centaur, as the new teacher for Divination.

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"_It seems like our plan is working," _the first said.

"_He's been able to deflect Snape's technigue once, which could become troublesome,"_ the other chimed in.

"_He's actually getting better, hm?"_

"_Yeah, he could soon become really good at it, without knowing of course, since he's still having these 'dreams',"_ the second agrees.

"_And you make sure that he doesn't notice it's a doujutsu, and not him sneaking into Voldemort's mind?"_ the first asked.

"_Of course, I'm not an amateur,"_ a third voice answered. _"With my sharingan, he won't be able to tell the genjutsu from the dreams he's been having a few months back."_

"_Our plan is working, then."_

And they smirked.

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At the end of his very first lesson, Firenze gave Harry and Ron a message for Hagrid. Something about a plan that wasn't working, and should better be abandoned, but seeing as Umbridge was present in each and every class of Care for Magical Creatures it was very difficult to tell Hagrid this. Finally, the scarred boy faked to have forgotten his book back at Hagrid's cottage, and ran back to tell him. Hagrid, however, didn't seem concerned about Firenze's words at all, and Harry secretly wondered what his friend was up to, now.

Meanwhile the O. were approaching at an alarming speed, a fact they were reminded of by every teacher, Hermione, and even the guards. All fifth-years suffered more or less from excessive stress, but Hannah Abbott was the first, who had to be carried to the infirmary by Eagle, where she got a calming potion. A few hours later, the Golden Trio could hear the brown-haired guard complaining about always having to do the 'dirty' work. He still hadn't forgotten his visit in the Divination Tower, it seemed.

Without the regular DA-meetings, Harry thought that he might have cracked as well. Sometimes he felt as if he was only living for those short hours of rebellion. They worked hard, but he was very proud of his fellow Da-members. He caught himself wondering, how Umbridge would react, if every DA-member got an Outstanding in his O.W.L. in Defence against the Dark Arts. Especially now that they had started to work on the Patronus, a spell that everyone wanted to learn with a burning eagerness. Obviously, Harry told them as often as possible that it was much more difficult to do it infront of a real dementor. Cho chided him for spoiling the fun as her swan-shaped Patronus flew a few rounds across the room.

"They're so beautiful," she whispered.

"They don't have to be beautiful, they have to be able to protect you," Harry replied patiently. "What we really need is a Boggart. That's how I learned it."

"We could catch one for you!" Fox suggested from his position on the wall.

"No, we can't," Lynx corrected.

"Why not?" the blonde asked.

"Because we have to protect the school. We can't go on a Boggart-hunt, not to mention that we wouldn't even know where to start looking for one."

"I'm sure Dumbledore-jii-san knows."

"That's just Dumbledore-san for you, Fox, as it is for everyone. Show some manners, please. And no, we will not bother him with this, as we still couldn't go hunting."

"But-"

"No more buts, Fox, now shut up, so I can concentrate."

"On what?"

"On the henge, you baka. We can't go to catch a Boggart, but we can still transform into a dementor," the pink-haired guard explained.

"RIGHT!" Fox cheered, turning to the surprised kids. "We'll help you with this, believe it!"

A moment, and a puff of smoke later, two dementors floated over the ground in all their creepy glory. It was a perfect transformation, the two guards looked exactly like the sneaky creatures. They even spread that feeling of dread, and unhappiness through the quickly chilling room. Regaining his composure, Harry ordered his fellow students to line up infront of the two, and try their Patronus on them, while he was watching. Now that they were faced with more or less real dementors, everyone had problems conjuring a shaped Patronus, even those who'd done it perfectly before. Suddenly, the door to the Room of Requirement opened, and closed again. Harry walked over to see a house-elf.

"Hi, Dobby. What are you- is something wrong?"

"Harry Potter, Sir… Dobby came to warn you… but the house-elfs were told not to say anything." The tiny creature ran head first towards the wall, but Harry grabbed him, before he could hurt himself.

"What happened, Dobby?"

"Harry Potter… she…she…knows…" Dobby put his fist into his mouth.

""Who's **she**, Dobby?"

"_Hikigaeru," _Sakura whispered, having turned back into herself. "Shit! Everyone, line up, and take each other's hands" The students looked strangely at her "Come on, we don't have time for long explanations, just do as I say! When you're done, the first in the line grabs on to Fox tightly. Do you think you can teleport them all away at once?"

"Sure, Lynx-chan."

"Then what are you waiting for, go!"

With a puff of smoke, everyone disappeared.

"Harry, come on, we need to get you out of here!"

"The list," Harry replied, looking around frantically.

"The… there it is." Lynx grabbed it, and was about to get Harry, but it was too late. In seconds Malfoy, and half a dozen other Slytherins stormed the room, and dragged the Boy-Who-Lived to Dumbledore's office, while Umbridge gave the order to look for people that were breathing heavily in the library, and in the bathrooms. Sakura had no choice, but to follow them. In the headmaster's office were waiting the Minister himself with his junior assistant Percy Weasley, and two aurors. Thankfully, one of them was Mr. Shacklebolt.

"Minister? We got him. Malfoy's boy got him," Umbridge said triumphantly, pointing at Harry.

"Really? I'll have to tell Lucius. Well, , you know why you're here, I guess?", the minister replied.

Harry was about to say 'yes'. He had already opened his mouth when he saw Dumbledore's face. The headmaster wasn't looking at him directly, but Harry knew, the slight shake of his head was meant to be an indication for him.

"No," Harry lied.

"Excuse me?" Fudge asked.

"No."

"You don't know, why you're here?"

"No, I don't."

"So, you have no idea that you broke quite a few rules?" the minister asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Rules? No."

"And Eductional Decrees?"

"No."

"Then it's news to you," Fudge continued on, as Harry filled his webb of lies with more strings, "that there was a forbidden organization that met this evening?"

"Yes, indeed."

"I think, Minister," Umbridge said scornfully, "That we'll progress more easily if I get Ms. Edgecomb."

"Yes, please do that." Fudge smirked as Umbridge walked out the door. "Nothing better than a good witness, right Dumbledore?"

"I agree completely, Cornelius," the headmaster said, inclining his head slightly towards the younger man.

They had to wait a few minutes, but then Umbridge reappeared with Cho's friend by her side. The one, who didn't even want to partake in the whole things in the first place. Umbridge led the girl passed Harry into the room, until she stood infront of the minister himself. For some reason, Marietta, Harry remembered her name now, was hiding her face behind her hands, while Umbridge explained how she was Madam Edgecomb's daughter- a witch that worked in the ministry, and had helped with the surviellance of the Hogwarts fireplaces. When Marietta finally revealed her face, Harry saw that she had pimples all over her face that formed the word 'Sneak'.

Umbridge continued trying to convice her to speak, but Marietta wouldn't budge, so the Toad-woman herself explained how the young girl had come to her to tell her of a secret room, where she would find something interesting going on. How she was about to say more when this unfortunate jinx took it's effect, and she hadn't said a word since then. Fudge tried to encourage her to tell them who took part in the meeting, but Marietta was still to disturbed by what happened.

"Don't we have something against that? So she can speak freely?" the minister raged.

"I wasn't able to counter the curse yet, minister, but I will gladly tell the story from there," Umbridge admitted grumbling, and Harry was suddenly very proud of Hermione's skill. Plus, he heard a tiny snicker from the only guard in the room. "You may remember the report I send to you this october, minister. About the group of students that planned to raise an anti-ministry group-"

"And where is the proof for that?" Lynx asked, irritated. She hadn't noticed any of the staff in the bar.

"Willy Widdershins has seen it all, and told me."

"Oh, so **that **is the reason why all charges against him were dropped. What an interesting insight in your jurisdictional system."

"The aforementioned group around Potter was clearly against the law-"

"Actually, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Eductional Decree Number 23 has been introduced a day later, so the children's meeting wasn't illegal."

"That may be true, headmaster, but even if that first meeting wasn't illegal, every other after that, was," Umbridge replied smoothly.

"If there have been any more meetings until now, they surely would've been, yes. But do you have any proof that there were such meetings," Dumbledore argued, and as he spoke, Harry felt a light breeze graze his earshell, as if a bird would've flown by, and touched him with his feathers.

"Proof? Why do you think Ms. Edgecomb is here?" Umbridge retorted.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I heard you say that she talked only of tonight, so far," Sakura chimed in, catching on what Dumbledore was trying to do. If she played this the right way, she could get an extra advantage out of it for Kakashi's plan. Someone would have to put his head in the line, and if it wasn't Harry, it would be…

"Miss Edgecomb," Umbridge immediately said, "please tell us for how long these meetings have occurred, my dear. You'll only need to nod or shake your head. Come on, the jinx can't get worse from that. Did these meetings occur in the past six months?"

Harry kept his breath. It was over. They were done for it. He would be expelled from school, he thought about living with Sirius at Grimmauld Place, when Marietta…

…shook her head.

"Huh?"

"I don't think you understood the question, my dear. I wanted to know, if this organization met in the past six months?"

Another shake of the head.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, my dear?"

"I think that's clear. Shaking ones head generally means 'no'," Sakura explained, amused.

"But there was a meeting tonight!" Umbridge replied, irritated. "There was one, right?

She started shaking Marietta, until Dumbledore stopped her, not allowing her to manhandle the girl further. Harry suddenly realized that the breeze he had felt, was probably a spell that altered Marietta's memory, and Shacklebolt must've been the one to do it. So, that was what was going on.

"Dolores," Fudge spoke up again. "What about the meeting tonight? We know that it happened."

"Oh, yes…yes, minister. Well, Ms. Edgecomb told me about it, and I rushed there. Unfortunately, Potter, and the guard were the only ones still being there. I'm sure the guard warned them. I sent Mr. Malfoy, and the others to look for the ones that escaped. Potter is their leader, minister, I'm sure of it."

"Actually, on this parchment it says 'Dumbledore's Army', not 'Harry Potter's Army'…" Sakura chirped, holding up said list. This was working out, after all. If they took Harry away, things could get ugly, but if Dumbledore wasn't able to look over everything anymore, Voldemort would feel more inclined to get on with it already, and they could put an end to the double, well triple game they were playing. This was going better than she thought it would.

"Well, Cornelius, do you want a written confession, or will it be enough if I confess infront of witnesses?" Dumbledore asked, chancing a short glance at Lynx, and understanding what she was trying to do. He didn't know why she was doing it, she could've just stayed silent, and he would've taken the responsibility anyway, but he would trust her. Maybe it was silly to trust trained assasins as much as he did, especially when they were plotting something with the enemy behind his back, but he was sure there was more to it than catches the eye. He would trust them, while keeping an eye on them.

"You…you are the leader of this group?" Fudge asked, gaping.

"Yes. Tonight I wanted to sample their readiness to follow my lead. Of course I realize now that it was a mistake to invite Ms. Edgecomb."

"NO!" Harry shouted. "No, Porfessor Dumbledore-"

"Be quiet, Harry, or I fear you'll have to leave my office," Dumbledore admonished him, while everyone else who was on their side were giving him warning looks.

"Yeah, shut up, Potter!" Fudge barked at him. "Weasley, send Dumbledore's confession to the Daily Prophet. Maybe we'll still make it into the morning edition."

"Yes, sir!" Percy said, and rushed out the door.

"And you, Dumbledore, you'll be escorted to Azkaban now."

"Ah, I knew there would be just this tiny problem," Dumbledore admitted.

"Problem? What problem?"

"You thinking that I would… come quietly, and go to Azkaban. Of course I could flee, but why waste time, and energy. I can think of at least a hundred things, I'd rather do… Don't be ridiculous, Dawlish," he added when the auror raised his wand, "I know you're an excellent auror, but if you try to take me down by force, I'll have to hurt you."

"Oh, so you want to go against all of us alone?" the Minister asked.

"By Merlin's beard, of course not! Only if you force me to."

"That's enough!" Fudge replied, furious. "Dawlish, Shacklebolt, arrest him!"

A silver lightening went through the room. There was a loud 'bang', and the floor trembled; a hand grabbed Harry, and threw him to the ground when a second curse flew through the room. Some of the portraits screamed, Fawkes screeched, and a cloud of dust made vision almost impossible. Harry coughed loudly within the dust. He saw someone fall face first onto the floor, a scream, a thump, a groan… and silence. Turning a little, he could see that Lynx had burried him, and Marietta underneath her, so that they wouldn't get hurt in the process. A figure approached them.

"Everything okay?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Lynx replied casually. "Sorry about that, but…"

"I understand."

"Good… Where will you go? Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh, no. I'm not going to hide. Fudge will be very sorry to have chased me away, I guarantee you. Well, I should get going… oh, Harry?"

"Yes, Professor?" He asked, though he wanted to say so many other things. How sorry he was, and hoe terrible he felt that Dumbledore had to go, and…

"Promise me that you'll do your best to learn occlumency."

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

With that, he vanished in a jet of flame, and Fawkes with him.

It wasn't long before the other people in the room were back on their feet, demanding explanations, and shouting all together. Dawlish and Shacklebolt burst through the door to look for Dumbledore on the staircase, while Fudge and Umbridge remained, hand reaching out for the parchment still in Sakura's hands.

The young ANBU made a few seals, and burned it.

**End of chapter 17!**

**A/N: Sorry, I didn't update sooner. wouldn't let me log in. There was a glitch in the system or something.  
Please leave a review.**


	18. Pranks and harmful Memories

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**Chapter 18: Pranks, and harmful Memories**

"Your subordinate has burned the list!" Umbridge yelled into Wolf's face furiously half an hour after Dumbledore disappeared. They were still standing in the headmaster's office when the remaining ANBU operatives arrived on the scene. Harry looked up to the pink-haired woman who was in the center of attention, and found that she looked somewhat smug, and very pleased with herself as she leaned against Dumbledore's desk casually. Fox was about to lead Marietta back to her dormitory, all the while trying hard to contain his laughter, and failing miserably. Eagle, and Cat had been sent to help Dawlish, and Shacklebolt to find traces of Dumbledore, though both had assured them that there was nothing there before even looking out a window. Deer was currently occupied talking with one of the portraits in a conspiracy-like tone. The Boy-Who-Lived concentrated on the conversation, and was just in time to hear Deer and the portrait come to an agreement

"Troublesome… Okay, it's settled then. Keep her out, we can't have her going through Dumbledore's things before we could take a look at it," the pineapple-headed guard muttered silently.

'Take a look at what?' Harry thought, but was interrupted in his thoughts by Raven coming to join them.

"You burned important proof?" he asked, calmly.

"Hm-hm," the young woman answered smugly.

"…Thank you," came the strange answer. Harry couldn't understand. Raven's name hadn't been on the list, yet he was thanking her for burning it?! What was going on? Chancing a look at the pink-haired guard, he noticed that she stood there somehow in shock at his words for a second, then threw her arms around the blue-haired male to give him a tight hug. Now it was Raven's turn to be shocked, but he soon recovered, and slid his arms around her waist to pull her closer.

Going beet-red in a matter of seconds, Harry turned his attention to Wolf, and Umbridge again.

"She burned it! A most decisive proof, and she burned it. I want her removed from this castle immediately!" the Toad-woman was still shouting at the poor Captain, who had to cringe at her shrill voice. Harry was very surprised that Wolf hadn't covered his ears yet.

Instead, the silver-haired guard turned to his subordinate.

"If I may interrupt?" he asked coolly, as he moved closer to the still entangled pair. The two younger ANBU let go of each other in an instant, mumbling some incoherent excuses. "So, Lynx, you burned the list with the names of the participants of Dumbledore's Army on it?"

"Uhm…yes?" the female guard piped tentatively.

"…I shall report this to your shishou."

"Yes, sensei."

"…You might actually get a promotion out of this."

"…"

Instead of answering, Sakura pumped her fist in the air, making a little victory dance, and flying right back into Sasuke's arms. The boy was so surprised to be hugged a second time that he even fell over, and hit the ground with a loud 'thump'. Rubbing the back of his head, he glared at his comrade when she started laughing madly at the whole situation, but in the end decided to smile a little himself. Meanwhile, Kakashi muttered something about not being an appropriate sight for children, and ordered Deer to lead a still blushing Harry away from the scene. The two guards apparantly were so embarrassed they disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing only infront of their dormitory, where they found an incredible amount of students looking around insecurely.

"Aren't you the ones Fox teleported away from the Room of Requierement?" Sakura asked carefully.

"Yeah," Ginny answered for the whole bunch of them.

"And you're still here, because…?" Sasuke questioned.

"Fox just disappeared immediately after taking us here, and we didn't know if we were allowed to go," Dean chimed in.

"Besides, if we go back to our dormitories from here, chances are that Filch finds us, and then we are in serious trouble," Ron added.

"…" Sakura turned to her companion.

"…No," he replied.

"Oh, come on. I can take all Griffindors back, and you the Ravenclaws, and then I'll take the Hufflepuffs."

"…"

"Please," Sakura said, pouting beneath her mask.

"…"

"I'll give you a cookie."

"…"

The students sweat-dropped.

"I'll buy you that sword you've seen in Bird Country last summer."

"…"

The students turned to the tapestry to see if the Bird Country was on there.

"I'll give you a kiss."

"…"

The students turned to Lynx, shocked.

"…"

"…Fine," Sasuke finally agreed.

The students blushed without fail, and snickered- until Raven turned his masked but icy glare on them, that is!

"Okay, let's get you to the entrance of your common rooms then. Griffindors, and Hufflepuffs, to me," the pink-haired girl chirped happily, and 'poofed' away as soon as everyone was there. Sasuke did the same with the Ravenclaw students, who were still eyeing him curiously. As Sakura had anticipated, it didn't take very long, and the two guards found themselves back in their common room. When Sakura entered, her bluish-haired companion was already standing infront of the fireplace, trying hard to look as if he didn't care. The young medic approached him silently, and turned him to look at her. Their masks had beend disregarded, lying on one of the tables. When he looked down into her face, Sasuke noticed that she was blushing a bit, but raised to her tip-toes nonetheless to peck his lips in a short kiss filled with sweetness.

"Get a room!" came Deer's comment from the door as he walked past them to the dormitories.

Sakura and Sasuke let go of each other, a full-blown blush on their faces now.

**333333333333333333333333**

Eductional Decree No. 28

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

_The above is in accordance with Education Decree Number Twenty-eight_ _Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic_

These posters had appeared over-night in the whole school. They did not, however, explain, how every last person in the whole castle knew exactly that Dumbledore had overthrown two aurors, the Minister, the High inquisitor, and his junior assistant, and had escaped. Not to mention that the old bat had tried to remove the guards from the castle, arguing that she, as the new headmaster, had the authority to. From what the students knew, the ANBU had just laughed at her face, hissing that she wasn't, however, their client. Harry could really go wherever he wanted, the only topic of discussion was Dumbledore's escape, and though some details were a little exagerated (Harry heard how a second-year assured her friend that Fudge would be in St. Mungo at the moment with a pumpkin as a head), the student's knowledge was astonishingly accurate. Everyone knew for exapmle that Harry, Marietta, and Lynx were within the office walls when it all happened, and seeing as Marietta was still in the hospital wing, and Lynx wasn't about to answer any questions, it was Harry, whom everyone asked for the entire juicy story.

"Dumbledore will be back shortly," Earnie Macmillian said as they made their way back to the castle from Herbology, after listening carefully to the Boy-Who-Lived. "They haven't been able to keep him away during our second year, either. The Fat Monk told me-" and he lowered his voice, so that the Golden Trio had to lean in to hear what he had to say "- that Umbridge has tried to return into the headmaster's office yesterday night. She didn't get past the entrance, though. The office has shut her out… Apparently, she had a little temper-tantrum!"

Harry raised an eyebrow, remembering what he heard Deer say to the portrait.

"Oh, I guess, she really wanted to sit on Dumbledore's seat," Hermione replied evily as they entered the castle. "She probably wanted to show off infront of the other teachers, that arrogant, power-thirsty, old-"

"Do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?" Malfoy asked once he stepped out of the shadows, Crabbe, and Goyle right behind them. He had an evil gleam in his eyes. "I fear, I've got to take a few points from Griffindor, and Hufflepuff."

"You can't take points away from other prefects, Malfoy," Earnie piped in.

"Oh, I know that prefects can't take points from other prefects, but members of the Inquisitorial Squad-"

"The what?" Hermione spat.

"The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger," Malfoy responded, and pointed to a tiny silver 'I' on his robe directly below his prefect badge. "A selected group of students, who support the Ministry of Magic. Umbridge herself chose us. In any case, we do have the power to take points away… Well, Granger, that's five for you, because you talked badly about our new headmistress. Macmillian, gone are another five, because you contradicted me. Five points from Griffindor, because I dislike you, Potter. And Weasley, five, because your shirt isn't in your pants. Oh, I almost forgot, Granger, you're a mudblood, so that's another ten from- aah!"

Malfoy never finished that sentence, because Deer, who had been guarding the Golden Trio from a little distance, had grabbed him by the back of his neck like one would a puppy, or a kitten, and had lifted the blonde plague off the ground, only to carry him away from the whole scene. Crabbe, and Goyle obviously following close behind.

"Troublesome brat, it's about time someone teaches you a few manners. You just wait," the lazy guard told the still complaining blonde, "once Wolf is done with you, your foul mouth will be nothing but a bad memory."

After a few minutes of silence, the four remaining students fell into a fit of laughter, vowing to themselves that they would ask the guards what punishment Wolf had decided upon. Their laughter died, though, when they saw that Malfoy hadn't been bluffing. Quite some jewels in the hourglasses that showed the respective amount of points of the four houses, had been flying back upwards as they did when there were points taken from a house. A moment later, Fred, and George came into view, asking them if they had noticed. The Golden Trio admitted that Malfoy had just taken more or less fifty points from them. Meanwhile, they watched more jewels fly upwards in the Griffindor hourglass, and George told them that Montague, Captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team, had tried with them, too.

"What do you mean, 'tried' ?" Ron asked carefully.

"He didn't finish his sentence, because we shoved him into the Vanishing Cabinet!" Fred replied with a pleased smirk.

"But you'll get expelled!" Hermione said, shocked.

"Not until Montague returns, and who knows where we sent him," Fred replied smoothly. "Besides… we decided that we don't care anymore."

"Did you ever?" Eagle asked after he had approached them, explaining that Wolf had sent him when Deer had brought Malfoy over.

"Of course. We were never expelled, after all, right?" George asked, sounding quite offended.

"We always knew where the line was!" Fred said.

"Maybe we put a toe over it once, or twice," George added in an afterthought.

"But we always stopped, before total chaos erupted," his brother finished.

"And now?" the brown-haired ANBU inquired, curious, though worried.

"Well now –" said George.

"–what with Dumbledore gone–" said Fred.

"–we reckon a bit of mayhem–" said George.

"–is exactly what our dear new Head deserves," said Fred.

"…Well, I'm sure Fox will be more than happy to help you," Eagle said after a moment, silencing Hermione's cries of protest with one hand over the girl's mouth, and the other planted firmly onto her shoulder. "I'm also sure he'll be here any moment now, so you can tell him about your plan- and, yes, I know you're plotting something, and no, I don't want to know, or get involved in any way- and I know he'll be able to assist you. If you'll excuse us mere mortals now. I'm certain that we shouldn't be here, when your little plot works out."

With that said, he dragged the Golden Trio, and Earnie further into the castle, where they met Filch, who told Harry that Umbridge wanted to see him.

"It wasn't me," Harry said, before thinking.

Neji would have slapped a hand over his face, were he anyone else.

"Bad coscience, huh? Follow me," Filch huffed, humming slightly, before he went into a rant about how he would be allowed to torture students in the very near future for any little break in the rules. Harry could hear Eagle give a disgusted snort as Filch listed a whip among the objects he could use on the bad children. Apparently, Umbridge had gone to great length to win Filch for her cause, and Harry feared that it was a decisive advantage, seeing as only the Weasley Twins knew more about Hogwarts' secret passages than him. And maybe the guards, but who knew. When they entered Umbridge's office, the Boy-Who-Lived immediately noticed the sign 'Headmistress' at the front of her desk.

"The boy you wanted to talk to, Ma'am," Filch announced.

"Thank you, Argus," the Toad replied sweetly.

"No problem, Ma'am, no problem," Filch replied, before moving out the door backwards.

"Sit down," Umbridge told him, and offering a second seat for the guard. Harry wondered if she had learned from her previous 'encounters' with the ANBU, and was actually making an effort to be nice to them, while the brown-haired man just sat down without a word, just as Umbridge offered them something to drink. Harry answered that he didn't want anything, but Umbridge insisted. At least with him, because Eagle apparently didn't want to drink something with her either, so he didn't answer at all. Harry finally decided for tea. Umbridge turned around to put sugar, and milk into the tea. As Harry fidgeted in his chair, he could hear Eagle murmuring the- rather strange sounding- word 'Byakugan' under his breath, and felt a flare of energy coming from the guard. Meanwhile Neji directed his gaze at Umbridge's back, only to see her put some clear liquid into the tea. Moving his gaze to her hand, he read the label on the tiny bottle in it.

Verita Serum.

'_Great, just great. Things can never be easy, can they?'_ he thought, scowling.

"There," Umbridge said, handing him the cup. "Please drink, before it gets cold. Well, Mr. Potter… I thought that maybe you, and I should talk a little this evening."

When Harry didn't reply, she encouraged him to drink.

Harry lifted the cup to his lips, when he felt the brown-haired guard stepping him on his toe. He barely contained a cry of pain, but it was enough to make him look over to the guard, surprised. The dark-haired boy could see the ANBU shake his head ever so slightly, and was suddenly reminded of Mad-Eye Moody, and what the paranoid ex-auror would think of him, if he knew that Harry had been about to drink something offered by someone he knew he couldn't trust. He raised the cup to his mouth again, pretending to drink, but kept his lips tightly shut, while Umbridge's sweetest smile spread across her face.

"Well then… **Where is Albus Dumbledore?**" she asked him.

"I don't know."

"Please drink, Mr. Potter," she continued, still smiling. "Well, Mr. Potter, I think we can drop the act. I don't want to play childish games. You, and Dumbledore have been in this together from the beginning. Think about the situation you are in, Mr. Potter…"

"I don't know, where he is," Harry replied, pretending to take another sip. 'And I wouldn't tell you, even if I did.'

"Well then, tell me where Sirius Black is."

"I don't know," he replied too quickly.

Neji took a deep, calming breath. Didn't anyone ever teach this kid how to counter an interrogation?

'_Well, of course not. He's no shinobi,'_ he answered himself.

"Oh, please Mr. Potter. Don't forget that it was me, who almost caught Sirius Black in the fireplace in October, and don't think I don't know that you were the one he was talking to. If I would've had any proof, none of you would be free to roam today, that I assure you. So, where is Sirius Black, Mr. Potter?"

"I have no idea, not the slightest."

"…Very well, Mr. Potter, I shall believe you this time, but remember that the whole power of the Ministry is supporting me. All ways of communication from, and to Hogwarts are being controlled. Even the fireplaces- except my own, of course. My Inquisitorial Squad opens, and reads every letter before it departs from the school, or before it gets to it's rightful owner. And Mr. Filch guards every secret passage of this castle. If I find so much as a trace of a proof…"

BOOM!

The floor trembled. Umbridge slipped, and held onto her desk with a panicked shriek.

"What the hell-"

She looked over to the door, and Harry used that opportunity to empty his cup in the nearest vase. A few floors under them, he could hear people screaming as Umbridge told him to return to lunch, and then ran out of her office. Of course, Harry had no intention of doing so. Waiting for a few more seconds just to be sure, he followed the Toad-woman to see what was happening. It wasn't very hard to find out. One floor below him, hell reigned.

Someone (and Harry had a good idea, who) had apparently fired off a whole box of magical fireworks. Dragons, made of green, and golden glimmers, swept through the hallways, and 'boomed', and exploded; Catherine wheels with a diameter of at least one and a half metres flew through the air dangerously low like U.f.O.s; rockets with long silvery tails dashed from one wall to another, while magical candle spelled insults into the air. No matter where Harry looked, something exploded as if they were on a battlefield, and instead of fading slowly, before disappearing, thefireworks seemed to just get more powerful with every passing minute.

Filch, and Umbridge were standing on the staircase, paralyzed by the shock. Infront of Harry's eyes one of the firecircles decided that it needed more space for it's own, and rushed downwards, and towards the two adults. Both of them screamed, and made a jump to the side, while the firework flew out the window onto the school grounds. Meanwhile, some of the dragons, and a giant hot pink bat used the open door to invade the school further.

"Rush, Filch, rush! If we don't do anything, they'll be in the whole castle soon- Stupefy!" Umbridge yelled, and a red flash of light hit one of the rockets. Instead of stopping dead, however, it exploded with such force that it burned a hole into the painting of an emotional looking witch, who was able to jump into another portrait just in time. The residing wizards who had been playing cards stood up to make room for her. "No Stunning spells, Filch!"

Apparently, Umbridge tried to make everyone believe that it was Filch's fault, who as a Squib couldn't stun the fireworks as much as he couldn't swallow them. Instead, the poor man tried to chase them away with a mop, but it was simply set on fire. Harry had to hold his stomach from the laughter, and he could hear even Eagle chuckle, which turned into a real laugh when a second later the hall was invaded by dozens of big, orange toads with bluish patterns on their faces, and backs. Harry guessed that this was Fox' doing, because one of the toads approached them, and told them they should better go, before Lynx's summoned slugs arrived on the scene. Nodding in agreement, Neji led Harry to a tapestry, behind which he could see Fred, George, Sakura, and Naruto hiding with his bloodline limit, shoving him hastily behind it.

"Impressive," the Hyuuga admitted freely.

"Thank you," George whispered, while listening to the screams, and shouts of their new headmistress. "Though the animals are actually your comrades' merits."

"I guessed as much," Neji replied, nodding towards the other two guards.

Naruto, and Sakura just shrugged, surpressing another set of giggles.

"Oh, I just hope that she tries the disappearing charm next!" Fred told them. "Everytime you try that, they replicate ten-fold."

This time, none of them could stop from chuckling.

The firework emergency continued for the whole afternoon, spreading throughout the whole castle. And thought it did do quite some damage, the other teachers didn't seem to be disturbed by it at all.

"Oh, my goodness," Professor McGonnagall said evilly when one of the fire-spitting dragons buzzed through her classroom. "Ms. Brown, if you would be so kind to go find the headmistress, and tell her that we've one of the escaped fireworks in our classroom!"

As a result of all of this, the Toad-woman spent her first day as headmistress, running back and forth through the school, following the shouts of help of the different professors, of whom none seemed capable of handling the situation alone. When it finally rang for the last time that day, and the students made their way back to their common rooms, trying hard not to step into the slime the slugs roaming freely within the castle covered the floor with, Harry saw with great satisfaction a dirty, worn-out Umbridge stumble out of Filch's classroom.

"Thank you very much, Professor!" Flitwick squeaked. "I could've destroyed them myself of course, but I didn't know if I had the **authority** to do so."

And with a broad smile on his lips, he slammed the door shut into Umbridge's face.

Just as the Golden Trio didn't think it could get any better, they saw Fox, and Lynx walk passed them raising their hands in a 'Peace'-sign. Confused, they lingered a minute longer. And they didn't regret it, because Malfoy suddenly burst through the entrance hall, all covered up in slime as if he had just been spit out by one of the slugs, and he was screaming like a little girl.

"Slug! Toad! Made… them…e-eat…m-me!…have to…wash… Big…so big…"

Raising an eyebrow, the Golden Trio took a look outside, only to find the giant version of the slugs, and toads (the latter with a pipe in his mouth) going on rampage through the castle, on their schoolgrounds, conversing animatedly with each other. This evening Fred and George were the heroes of the Griffindors, and the two ANBU that had helped them, became officially their favorite guards. Even Hermione fought her way over to the four of them to congratulate them.

"That was a great firework," she said admiringly.

"Thanks," George replied, somewhat surprised at her admission. "Unfortunately we used up all of our provisions. Now we'll have to start anew."

"But it was definitely worth it," Fred reminded him, while taking the students requests. "If you want some, Hermione, that'll be five galleons for the normal version, and for the more luxurious box twenty."

But Hermione returned to where she was sitting with Harry, and Ron, just as the guards made their way out, and announced that they should continue their homework tomorrow. When asked if she was okay, she happily replied that she was just feeling a little rebellious. Harry soon said goodnight to his friends. He was completely exhausted for some reason, and went to bed. Once he had gotten into his pajamas, he heard some noise, and turned around to see if it was Ron, but all he noticed weere swirling black dots in a blood-red background.

For a moment, fear gripped his heart, as he thought that Voldemort had found his way into the school, but then every thought vanished, and all that remained was that dream again. The dream about the hallway to the Department of Mysteries, the door that opened for him, then another door that he opened himself. He knew where he had to go, and he wasn't surprised when he found a room full of cupboards behind the second door, cupboards with crystal balls on it. He began to ran, knowing what he wanted, or what someone else wanted.

His scar hurt when he awoke to another 'Bang'.

**333333333333333**

_"So, Sasuke is invading his mind again?"_ Sayuri asked, looking up into his face from her position beneath him on the bed as if it was the first time she saw it.

_"As we speak,"_ Kakashi answered, raising a hand to cup her cheek, and softly caressing it with his thumb.

_"Don't you think it's a little much for a boy his age to handle?"_

Kakashi sighed, kissing her chin lightly.

_"Do you have a better idea?"_ he asked her seriously.

_"Unfortunately, not."_

_"Then, we can't afford to stop. He could be in grave danger otherwise."_

_"He is now, as well,"_ she reminded him, tracing a finger over his ANBU tattoo.

Kakashi shivered.

_"But at least we can control this danger. If we didn't do, what we're doing, we wouldn't be able to,"_ the Copy Nin argued, as he bent over her, so his breath touched her lips. Sayuri's breath hitched, all thought gone from her mind for a second that seemed to last an eternity. She could say something to that, could argue further, but decided against it. She just wanted to enjoy the time they had together. They were on a mission, after all. Alone time was a rare thing to come by. The Hyuuga-woman lifted a hand to his face to brush some strands out of it, and carefully follow the outline of his scar.

_"You said, Tsunade talked to you about this. That she didn't only send you that scroll."_

_"Yes,"_ Kakashi replied, after he caught up with her sudden change of topic.

_"Did she mention anything specific?"_

_"She had a good idea of whom I would, and should choose… You."_ He kissed her yielding lips softly.

_"Why?"_

_"Maybe she knew I wouldn't accept anyone else?"_ Kakashi suggested.

_"Or maybe there was another reason still. Think about it. Both our bloodlines combined…"_ The woman shivered a little at such a train of thought in the Hokage's mind.

_"It's not hereditary,"_ Kakashi suddenly dead-panned.

Sayuri looked up, confused. Then she smiled, as she found her fingers still tracing his scar. She shook her head at him, and called him silly.

_"I didn't mean it like that. And besides, it's you I love, not your sharingan. Just you. Your tardiness, and good heart, your strength, and your bad-ass-attitude. Just you, Kakashi."_

_"Nicely_ spoken." He smiled, kissing her again. This time it was more intense as his hands ran down her sides, his lips gently nibbling at hers, but before she could open her mouth to let him in, the door opened.

_"Why do I always walk in on you like this?"_ they heard Sakura ask rightfully, and a little frustrated from the entrance.

_"I don't know, maybe your inner pervert is developing a fetish,"_ Kakashi replied cockily.

_"And what do you mean "like this"?!? We're fully clothed this time,"_ Sayuri bristled, then continued in a smaller voice as a slight blush crept into her cheeks. _"Well, Kakashi is lacking his shirt, but… can you blame me?"_

_"Argh! I just came to inform you that Naruto and I have sent the summons back now."_

And then, she stormed out the door, beet-red.

**3333333333333333333**

On his way to his next lesson in Occlumency, he met Cho, and they got into a heated discussion about Marietta, and the whole mess around Dumbledore's Army, and of course about whether or not what Hermione had done with the list was a good thing, or not. Deer, who was watching, had the certain feeling that this would end their relationship for good. He sighed in relief, thinking about his own upcoming marriage. Troublesome as the woman was, Temari and him at least didn't have this insignificant problems, because they understood each other's jobs, and shared the same way of thinking about it. Both of them would give everything for their village, but they'd always protect their comrades, and friends from harm. After this newest discussion, the Boy-Who-Lived was even less keen on his Occlumency lesson than before. Shikamaru just hoped it would be over soon.

"Get out your wand, Potter!" Snape ordered.

Harry took his position.

"Legilimens!"

**The fireworks throughout the school… the slug, and the smoking toad talking… shared laughter behind the tapestry… the party at the Griffindor common room… his way over to Snape's office…his meeting with Cho… the argument…**

'No, you won't see that!' Harry thought, and suddenly the scenery changed.

**His father walking over to Snape on the school grounds.**

"**Everything alright, Snivellus?" he asked.**

**Snape reacted so fast as if he was counting on an attack. He dropped his bag, and reached for his wand. It was already half out of his roes, when Harry's father shouted "Expelliarmus!", and it flew across the meadow. The next curse made Snape stumble, and fall. Some students were coming closer to see the show. James asked Snape how his last exam had gone, and Sirius said something about grease spots on the parchment, because Snape had bent over it so lowly. **

"**You just wait-" Snape grunted.**

"**Wait for what, Snivellus? You gonna wipe your nose off on us?" Sirius mocked.**

**Some students laughed. Apparently, Snape wasn't very popular. Said Potion's Master spit a series of curses, and insults, which James rewarded with a Scourgify spell on him, having him spit soap bubbles. From the side near the lake came a shout, and everyone turned to see Lily Evans- much later Lily Potter- come running towards them, demanding from James to let Snape go.**

"**Let him go! What has he done to you?"**

"**It's more the fact that he exists, you know…" James replied, and many students laughed.**

"**You think you're funny, but you're nothing more than an arrogant, little brat, Potter!" Harry's mother scoffed.**

And then suddenly, it was over, and Snape was looking at him furiously. Harry felt panic rise within him. He would have to pay for that, much worse than the last time, he turned the tables on Snape, too.

"Funny guy, your father, wasn't he?"

"N-no."

"You won't tell that to anybody," Snape barked.

"N-no, of-f…of course not."

"Get out! Get out, and I don't want to see you here ever again, Potter."

Shortly after Harry left the classroom with a feeling of dread, Malfoy came storming in, informing Snape that Montague was found, and that he was a bit dilusional.

**End of Chapter 18!**

**A/N: Almost there, almost there! Five more chapters to go. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Reviews are love!**


	19. Farewell, Hogwarts! WWW

**Hogwart's ANBU**

**Chapter 19: Farewell, Hogwarts! Weasley's Wizard Wheezes**

"Why don't you have occlumency lessons anymore?" Hermione asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"I already told you," Harry replied, exasperated. "Now that I know the basics, Snape thinks I can continue on my own."

"So you don't have any strange dreams anymore?" Naruto inquired, stepping to his side from where he had been talking- cough plotting cough- with the Weasley twins.

"Hardly," the Boy-Who-Lived answered without looking at him.

Behind his mask, Naruto smiled quiltily, knowing full well that Harry still had those 'dreams', or rather that he was seeing what Sasuke made him see with his sharingan. It was essential for their plan to rile the kid up, and get him to believe what he was 'dreaming', but it was still betrayal. And the blonde guard hated to betray a friend, or a client. Harry was their protegé, yet to him it would look like they were working against him. The Kyuubi vessel just hoped that Harry would give them the opportunity to explain, otherwise things could get ugly.

Really ugly.

"… go to him, and ask him if-"

"No," Harry told the bushy-haired girl with a finality in his voice. "Just drop it, please."

Hermione huffed, and continued working on their schedules for their revise. Harry and Ron let her do as she pleased, because it was easier than arguing with her, and because it would probably be useful. While Fox resumed his prank-planning with the red-head twins, Ron suddenly realized that their exams were only six weeks ahead. Shaking her head, Hermione asked him, how someone could be surprised by this. Ron just shrugged, saying that a lot had happened.

"Well, this is yours," the young bookworm told him, handing over his schedule. "If you follow it strictly, you'll pass without problems."

Ron took it with a dark expression, but then smiled.

"You left me with a free evening each week!"

"That's for Quidditch training."

"Why? This year we have as much of a chance at winning as my father to become Minister of Magic."

At this point, Harry took out his book for Defence against the Dark Arts, and faked to be looking something up, while Hermione's cat, after endless minutes of trying, finally gave up on getting him to scratch him behind his ear.

"I met Cho," Hermione suddely spoke up. "She looked really unhappy. Have you been arguing again?"

"Wha- oh, yeah," Harry said.

"About what?"

"Her friend Marietta."

"Oh, that godforsaken…" Ron started his rant about the poor girl, and Harry was all too happy about it. Now, he'd only have to nod, and say 'yes', or 'right'. This way he could think about his own problems. He felt like he was eaten up from the inside by the memory he'd seen in Snape's head. He'd been so sure that his parents had been wonderful people that he never found it difficult to smash all those insulting things Snape had said about his father. Plus, Hagrid, and Sirius had always told him what a great person his father had been. Then again, now he knew what kind of person Sirius had been himself. Professor McGonnagall had once said that his father, and Sirius were similar to the Weasley twins, but he doubted Ron's brothers would make anyone resemble The Hanged Man just for fun… only if they really hated someone… maybe Malfoy, or someone who really deserved it.

Harry tried to think about reasons why Snape deserved what James had done, but hadn't Lily asked him the same question? And didn't his father answer that it was more the fact that Snape existed? Besides, James had only started the whole thing because Sirius had told him that he was bored, right? Harry remembered how Lupin told him that Dumbledore had made him a prefect, so he would help to keep his friends at bay, but he had just continued reading in the memory, not bothering to even acknowledge what was happening. His mother had been the only one to step up for Snape, and the way she had looked at James made Harry shiver. It had been so full of disgust, Harry didn't understand how they could've end up married. He even considered that James might have forced her…

Five years he had been proud when someone said that he was like his father, but now he felt cold at the mere thought…

During their easter holiday, the fifth and seventh years were all locked up within the castle, in order to learn for their upcoming exams, while the weather began to become better, and warmer, and all of them just wished they could go outside, and enjoy it. Thus, Harry's plan on making it seem like the exams were the only reason for his bad mood, worked out perfectly. Maybe except for the guards. Fox had probably told the others what had happened with Snape, and he found some of them chancing him pitying glances, or squeezing his shoulder when passing by.

"Harry, are you listening to me?"

"Huh?"

He turned to find Ginny Weasley, who was looking rather tousled, sitting at his table in the library. It was late Sunday evening. Hermione had retreated back to the Griffindor common room, and Ron had been out for Quidditch training. Eagle was sitting by his side, though he was probably living in his own world at the moment. The brown-haired guard seemed to be constantly drifting off, thinking about something or other. Something was obviously worrying him, though it didn't show very much, except for his apparent short attention span.

"Oh, hi," Harry greeted her. "Why aren't you training?"

"It's over. Ron had to take Jack Sloper in the infirmary."

"Why?"

"Well, we aren't sure, but we think that he's knocked himself out with his batting stick. In any case, we just received a package that got through Umbridge's new control system," Ginny replied, catching not only Harry's, but also Eagle's interest when she showed it to them. On the box there was written in bright red ink: Inspected, and not abjected by the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts.

"Easter Eggs from mom," Ginny explained, before turning to Eagle. "The ones in this package are for you guys."

And she handed him a second box. Surprised, Neji took it, and indeed found seven chocolate eggs as big as his fist, decorated with pictures of their animals. He looked over to find Harry holding up his own egg, on which you could see a small golden ball with silver wings. The Hyuuga frowned for a moment, before remembering that silly little game they had to watch, where one of the players had to catch such a ball. The difficulty was in seeing it… well, unless you're a Hyuuga, or an Uchiha (or have the sharingan for some other reason).

"You alright, Harry?" Ginny asked silently.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Potter replied, not in the mood for great conversation. Neji could've slapped a hand over his face in exasperation. There was someone who wanted to help, and the boy had nothing better to do than to bark at her. In many ways, Harry reminded him of himself, while Ginny would be Hinata- with the only difference that the black-haired boy never hated Ginny, or tried to kill her. Nor was she his cousin, and married to him. Guilt began to nag at him at the last few thoughts, but he quickly shoved it aside to concentrate on what the red-haired girl would say next.

"You've been looking depressed lately," she said carefully. "You know, I think that if you'd just talk to Cho…"

"It's not Cho, who I want to talk to."

"Who is it then?"

'_This doesn't sound good,' _Neji thought. _'Hopefully, they won't have another one of their ideas.'_

"I'd like to talk to Sirius, but I'm aware that it isn't possible."

'_Thank goddess.'_

"Well, if you really need to talk to him…" Ginny began, and Neji tensed. "… well, I think, we could arrange something. With the help of Fred and George, of course."

Neji was about to say something, when Madam Pince found them with the chocolate in hand, and threw them out with a flick of her wand, effectively wiping the thought of some stupid plan from the children's mind for the rest of the holiday. At the end of their vacation, announcement hung on each and every blackboard in the school, announcements for careers guidance for the fifth-years. Dragging his gaze down the list, Harry found out that he was supposed to be in Professor McGonagall's office at Monday three o'clock in the afternoon, which meant that he'd not have to partake in the better part of his Divination class. With a relieved sigh, he started working on reading through all the career information that was handed to the fifth-years.

"I don't think I want to be a healer," Ron told them, listing all the N.E.W.T.s one needed to even have a chance in that department.

"Well, it's a job with great responsibility," Hermione said, while reading about what you needed to work with muggles. "Apparently you don't need much in this department. All they want is an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies… More important are enthusiasm, patience, and sense of humor."

"You need more than sense of humor if you want to talk to my uncle," Harry dead-panned. "More like a good sense for when to duck. How about a career in Gringotts for you, Hermione?"

He held it up infront of her face.

"Hm, I'm not really into banking," she replied, then shifted her gaze to her own piece of paper.

"Hey," Harry heard someone saying from behind him. He turned to see Fred, and George. "Ginny talked to us about your problem. She said, you'd need to talk to Sirius?"

"What?" Hermione hissed.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be a good idea."

"Don't be ridiculous. Umbridge controls every fireplace in all of Hogwarts, and reads through our mail."

"Not her own, and all we'd need is a diversion," George explained, smiling. "As you noticed there wasn't much new from us during the Easter Holidays?"

"We would've just disturbed the students that were trying to review on what they learned, after all. And we wouldn't want that, now, would we?!?" Fred added, chancing Hermione an innocent glance, which she actually took quite surprised. "But from tomorrow on, it will be 'Business as usual'! So why not give Harry the chance to have a little chat with his godfather?"

"Because we won't allow it," they heard Deer's voice after a loud 'poof'. "It would be too troublesome, and there's no need for it anyway."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"You may play your little prank if you so wish, we won't stop you, but Harry will definitely not walk into Umbridge's office, and use her fireplace in that time… Unless, he wants to meet Wolf's wrath, which would be troublesome, I guarantee you."

"It's the only way!"

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered. "You remember our colleagues at the HQ?"

Everyone nodded.

"Have you ever thought about how we communicate with them, when something really urgent comes up?"

"Uh…"

"Thought so," the pineapple-headed guard huffed, and handed him a scroll, and a bottle of black ink. "Write whatever you wish to say on this scroll."

"But-" Harry started.

"Just do it, you troublesome gaki."

Harry exchanged glances with the other ones, and found them inching closer to him to see what would happen. Hermione nodded to him. Shrugging, Harry put down scroll, and bottle, opened it, took out his quill, and started to write.

Sirius?

It stood there to be read for a second, then the ink disappeared into the scroll. Harry felt reminded of Tom Riddle's diary, and judging by Ginny's gasp, she was, too. They waited for a second, then a new word appeared on the scroll.

Yes, Harry? I was told that you wished to talk to me.

"Wow," the others whispered.

I need to ask you something, he wrote.

What is it?, Sirius replied.

And so, Harry told him the story of what he had seen in Snape's memory. Hermione glared daggers at him, once she found out the real reason why he didn't have occlumency lessons anymore, but Harry ignored her. He couldn't however ignore what Sirius wrote on the parchment once he found out that Snape had thrown Harry out, and abandoned him.

HE WHAT?!? Oh, that good-for-nothing, stupid… I'll come up there, and give him a piece of my mind, that lousy-

Another handwriting appeared.

Calm down, Sirius. If anybody talks to Snape, then it will be me.

Lupin?, Harry asked.

Hi, Harry, his former teacher replied. Now, please don't judge your father by what you've seen. He was only fifeteen-

I'm fifeteen as well.

"And just as much of a troublesome idiot!" Shikamaru muttered. The students glared at him, while Harry chose to ignore him in favor of Sirius handwriting.

Look, Harry, James, and Snape hated each other, since they first met. It just was like that, you know? I guess, James was everything Snape wanted to be- he was popular, good at Quidditch- good at pretty much everything he did. And Snape was just that strange guy, who was deep into the Dark Arts, and James- as whatever he may have seemed to be to you- James has always despised the Dark Arts.

Yeah, but… he attacked Snape without a real reason to… only, because… well, because you said you were bored.

I'm not proud of that, Sirius wrote back at once.

Then, Lupin's handwriting returned, and Harry wondered if they were fighting over the quill...

Look, Harry, you have to understand that your father, and Sirius were the best of the best in everything they did- everyone thought them to be the coolest- and if they got a little carried away by this-

You mean if we turned out to be arrogant, little jarheads once in a while, Sirius chimed in.

He always dishevelled his hair, Harry wrote.

I completely forgot he used to do that, Sirius wrote back, and if you could gush on paper, they just realized that he would.

Did he play with-

Yeah, he did, Harry answered, before Lupin could even finish, knowing what the question would be. He looked like a complete idiot to me.

Of course he was a complete idiot. We all were… Well, to be fair, except for Moony.

Did I ever stop you from anything. Did I ever say that you were crossing a line?

Well, you were able to make us feel very guilty, at least.

And he always looked over to the girls at the lake, Harry insisted, wondering why they were writing down their conversation.

Ah, well, he's always made a fool out of himself when Lily was around. He couldn't help but show off, when she was within his reach.

How did they ever end up married? She hated him.

No, she didn't, Sirius answered.

She started to date him in our seventh year, Lupin added in an afterthought.

As soon as James grew to be more of an adult.

And stopped jinxing everyone for kicks.

Even Snape? Harry inquired, not quite believing it.

Well, Lupin replied, Snape was something else. He never stopped trying to curse your father, so you couldn't expect him not to do the same. However, that certainly didn't happen on his dates with your mom.

Your father was the best friend I ever had, Harry, and he was- like many people- an idiot when he was fifeteen. Nothing to be worried about, Sirius added.

…Okay, Harry scribbled, not really convinced.

About Snape, Lupin wrote next. You have to continue with your lessons, tell him that.

What? I can't. He'd kill me!

Harry, there is nothing more important than for you to learn occlumency, do you understand? Lupin told him over the scroll, before Sirius butted in.

Do you really think I shouldn't have a little 'discussion' with-

He was interrupted by just one word on the scroll.

'Glare'

Harry sighed, and wrote that he would talk to Snape, before they said their goodbyes, and Deer took the scroll back.

'_Thank goddess for Sai's ability to control ink,'_ he thought. '_That won't stop the school's number one pranksters, though… Troublesome.'_

**333333333333333**

Since he didn't have to worry about breaking into Umbridge's office anymore, Harry found the following day much more relaxing than he could've imagined. Even when Snape let the bottle with his potion fall, announcing that he'd get another 'D', because Hermione had already cleaned his cauldron, he was much calmer. Especially once Fox, who was guarding them today, handed Snape another bottle with Harry's potion, and made it absolutely clear, what would happen, if he were to lose that one as well, wouldn't be nice. Grumbling, Snape took it for a more or less fair evaluation.

Smiling broadly, Harry could be seen skipping a few steps on his way to his appointment with Professor McGonagall, for which Raven had come to retrieve him. The blue-haired guard seemed to be more than a little grateful that he didn't have to go to Divination with the rest of Harry's class.

"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," he said to the Head of his House.

Sasuke just nodded at the elderly woman.

"Good morning, Potter," Professor McGonagall replied, then returned the guard's gesture, and told both of them to sit down. Someone in the corner huffed, and when Harry turned around, he saw that Umbridge was sitting behind him, and not very happy looking, no less. The Boy-Who-Lived then dragged his gaze to the ANBU operative, and noticed that he had crossed his arms over his chest, tapping his index finger onto his upper arm, and was trying his best to ignore the Pink Punk.

Harry couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Well, Potter, we are here to talk about your intentions for the future, and help you choose the classes for the next two years," Professor McGonagall explained. "So, Potter, do you have any ideas about what you'd like to do for a living?"

"Uhm…" Harry found the scribbling noises behind him, and Raven's tapping foot extremely distracting.

"Yes?" McGonagall encouraged him.

"Well, I thought I could maybe become an Auror."

Sasuke stopped tapping his foot, against his will impressed by this choice. The boy had been through so much with the Dark Arts, yet he wanted to face them off for the rest of his life?

"You'd need excellent grades for that," Professor McGonagall replied immediately, and took out a small information paper. "It is requested, as I can see, to graduate with at least five N.E., and in no case a grade below an 'Exceeds Expectations'. Furthermore, you'd have to go through a series of character, and ability-tests. It's a difficult career, Potter, only the best are taken. I don't think that in the past three years anyone was taken at all."

In that exact moment, they could hear Umbridge cough a little, as if she was trying to find out, how silently she could do it.

Sasuke resumed to tap his foot again, almost wishing he was in Divination instead.

"You would surely like to know what classes you'll have to take?… Well, there would be Defence against the Dark Arts, ofcourse. Then I'd say Transfiguration, since Aurors often have to transform themselves. I have to say that I take only people with at least an 'E' in their O.W.L.s into my N.E.W.T.s classes. At the moment, Id say, you're just below that, so you'll have to do a bit of learning before the exams. You should also take Professor Flitwick's classes, and Potions- yes, Potter, potions. Poisons, and Antidotes are quite important for Aurors, and I have to tell you now that Professor Snape refuses to take anyone into his class that doesn't have an 'O'. So-"

Professor Umbridge coughed again.

"May I offer you a cough drop against your coughing, Dolores?"

"No, thank you very much. I just thought, if I could interrupt you for a second, Minerva?"

"I guess," Professor McGonagall replied through gritted teeth.

"I was just wondering, if Mr. Potter has the right temper for an Auror."

"Oh, really?" McGonagall asked dismissively. "Well, Potter, if you're seriously interested in this career, I'd advise you to concentrate on becoming excellent in Transfiguration, and Potions. Professor Flitwick seems to be pleased with your work. As for Defence against the Dark Arts, your grades have been quite good. Professor Lupin said- do you really not want a cough drop, Dolores?"

"Oh, no. Thank you, Minerva," Umbridge replied after coughing more loudly. "I was just wondering, whether or not you've received Mr. Potter's last evaluation?"

"This?" McGonagall asked, disgusted, as she raised a pink piece of paper.

"Did you understand that evaluation, Minerva?"

"Of course I understood it."

"Then how can you give him false hopes-"

"False hopes? Potter has gotten excellent grades in all his exams-"

Without anyone seeing, Sasuke's eyebrow began to twitch in irritation.

"I'm very sorry that I have to say this, but as you can see by my evaluation, his grades are quite-"

"I should've been clearer on this," Professor McGonagall retorted. "He has gotten excellent grades in all his exams in Defence against the Dark Arts, which were taken by competent teachers… Questions, Potter?"

"Yeah, what are those tests I have to take? Those ability-tests?"

"Well, you'll have to prove that you can remain calm in stressing situations, and such. It will take another three years for you to become an Auror, so if you don't want to continue studying after school-"

"The Minister will never accept him as an Auror. He has a police record."

"He was freed of all charges," McGonagall replied. "Besides, by the time Potter is ready to become an Auror, there could be a new Minister of Magic."

"Aha!" Umbridge screeched, and Raven cringed, about ready to slice the woman to pieces. "That's what you want, don't you? Dumbledore as Minister of Magic, and you in my Position as Senior Undersecretary of the minister, and to top it off Headmistress."

"You're babbling," Professor McGonnagall stated with utter disgust in her voice. "Potter, I will help you to become an Auror, even if I have to give you extra classes every evening of the week. Even if it is the last thing I'm going to do, I will make sure you'll be ready. You're dismissed."

Harry immediately took his backpack, and was about to hurry out of the room, when the Toad Woman spoke up once more.

"Potter has no chance at becoming an Auror. He will never-hmpf hmpf hmpf…" was all that came out of her mouth suddenly. Turning back to see, Harry noticed with satisfaction that Umbridge was being wrapped up in ropes, and a piece of cloth was tieing itself around her mouth. Glancing at Professor McGonagall, he saw the corner of her mouth twich to release a pleased smirk, then chance a grateful look at Raven. The guard's hands were raised infront of him in a strange position that could only mean that he had performed some wandless magic. McGonagall tried a few charms to free the Headmistress- for the sake of property- but was obviously unable to do so- or maybe, she just wasn't really trying at all.

**333333333333333**

At the end of the day, Harry walked with his friends towards the Great Hall to enjoy the Tea Time. He was more relieved than this morning that he wouldn't have to break into Umbridge's office. He could've just imagined Professor McGonagall's reaction, if he would've been caught just hours after she'd stood up for him. On their way to have a slice of cake, and a cup of warm tea, they could hear a loud 'BANG', and several screaming students. Broad grins made their way onto their faces, which didn't even disappear when they bit into their chocolate chip cakes, or when Wolf sent them a dark look.

"He dislikes loud noises," Cat explained as she turned to look into the direction of the door. "Umbridge is running out of her office, looking pretty hysterical."

The Golden Trio didn't even ask, how she knew this. For starters, the brown-haired woman wouldn't answer them- truthfully, anyway- and aside from that, it didn't really matter. Instead, they asked her what Fred, and George had done this time. They saw her shifting her head a little, before she described in every detail what the Weasley twins had done to one of the floors, and what happened to Umbridge once she found out. The whole hall seemed to listen, because everyone erupted into fits of hysterical laughter once she was done telling them.

"Uh oh…"

"What?" Hermione asked immediately, concerned.

But Sayuri didn't answer, instead motioned for the other guards to follow her. Neji was the first to do so, not chancing her an inquisitive stare, and instead activating his Byakugan as well. Cursing under his breath, he waved for everybody to get a move on already. Hurrying out of the door, only to find a scene very similar to what had transpired when Trelawney lost her job. The Toad woman was standing on the staircase to the Entrance Hall, a large amount of students crowding the place. Filch was walking towards her, waving a piece of parchment in his hand. Close by stood the Inquisitorial Squad, all looking quite pleased, and above the all of them, floated Peeves. In the middle of that circle were Fred, and George, looking like two deers caught in the headlights.

"So!" Umbridge said triumphantly. "You think it funny to transform a floor into a swamp?"

"Pretty funny, yeah," Fred replied without any notion of fear in his voice or demeanor.

"I have it, Headmistress," Filch cried. "I have it… and my whips are waiting… Please, let me do it, now!"

"Very good. Now you'll see what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"I doubt that," Wolf said, walking down the stairs, only to come to stand inbetween the twins, and the Inquisitorial Squad, who- in turn- all took a few steps back.

"Oh, you do?" Umbridge inquired with a sly smirk. "Then maybe you want to take their place? Or keep them company?"

"Hardly." Kakashi chuckled darkly. The Inquisitorial Squad backed further away. "I'm just saying that this ends here."

"End here?"

"We tolerated your medieval ways of detention, but torture is the one thing I won't stand for."

"But you do torture in your country, so why should it be different here?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

The crowd gasped.

"Yes, we do use torture," Kakashi admitted freely. "But on our worst criminals, not on kids that pulled a few pranks. Unless kids are our worst criminals, but well…Otherwise, Fox would've probably already been tortured to death by the time he was twelve. We will not-"

"No worries," Fred interrupted him. "It's nice that you stand up for us, and all… and we don't mean to be ungrateful, or anything… but, George, I think we've outgrown a full-time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" asked Fred.

"Definitely,"said George.

And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wants and said together, "Accio Brooms!"

Harry heard a loud crash somewhere in the distance. Looking to his left he ducked just in time - Fred and George's broomsticks, one still trailing the heavy chain and iron peg with which Umbridge had fastened them to the wall, were hurtling along the corridor toward their owners. They turned left, streaked down the stairs, and stopped sharply in front of the twins, the chain clattering loudly on the flagged stone floor.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Professor Umbridge, swinging his leg over his broomstick.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, mounting his own.

Fred looked around at the assembled students, and at the silent, watchful crowd.

"If anybody fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three Diagon Alley - Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," he said in a loud voice. "Our new premises!"

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," said George, pointing at Professor Umbridge.

"STOP THEM!" shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late.

As the Inquisitorial Squad closed in, Wolf threw a kunai infront of their feet, and they stopped dead in their tracks. Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below. Fred looked across the hall at the poltergeist bobbing on his level above the crowd.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves."

And Peeves, whom Harry had never seen take an order from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultuous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset.

**33333333333**

The story of Fred, and George's glorious escape was repeated so often in the next few days that Harry knew it would soon be a Hogwarts Legend. After just a week, even those who had been present themselves, were almost convinced that they saw the Weasley twins attack Umbridge from their brooms. Time and again, Harry heard people say they would do the same thing as the two red-head brothers. After particularily hard classes, you could often hear the phrase: 'Another hour like this, and I'll do a Weasley!'

Harry smiled.

Fred, and George had made sure they wouldn't be forgotten any time soon. For starters, they hadn't left an instruction about how to get rid of the swamp in which they had transformed the fifth floor. Umbridge, and Filch could be watched as they tried in this way, or another, needless to say, without ever achieving anything. In the end, Filch was left to take the students from one side to the other in a boat, so they could get to their classes. Not only the students, though. The guards, though able to walk on water as was witnessed by many students- not to mention that Wolf was trying to teach them, now that everyone could walk up ceilings for about a minute, at least- appeared to be too lazy to move in such a way over the bog.

"Too troublesome," Deer had said, when asked.

"Easy, but why waste the energy?" Lynx had told them.

"Why would I want make it any easier for the Toad, and her fellowship?" Fox smiled.

And "I don't feel like moving!" was Wolf's answer, along with a shrug of his shoulders.

Harry was very sure that the guards could not only walk over the swamp, but also remove it, if they so wished. Just like teachers such as McGonagall, and Flitwick, probably. They all seemed to rather watch the new Headmistress struggle, as she did with Fred and George's fireworks, though. To add to that, there were the two broom-like holes in Umbridge's office-door, from when the brooms had flown back to their masters.

Harry's firebolt disappeared into the dungeons, and rumor had it, Umbridge let it be guarded by a troll. The problems didn't stop there, though. Inspired by Fred, and George's example, a multitude of students competed for the now free positions of greatest pranksters. Even with the new door in Umbridge's office, someone was able to smuggle a Niffler into the room, who immediately went in search for shining things, destroying the room, and attacking Umbridge to get the rings on her fingers.

In the hallways were being thrown so many stink bombs- much to Kakashi's chagrin- that the students started to use Bubble-Headed Charms on themselves to have a little bit of fresh air. Having wished to give the guards something back for their services, and finally finding something they could do, as the ANBU didn't seem to have such a magic for themselves, they used the same spell on them.

"Thanks," Fox said to Luna, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her cheek, as she, Ginny, and himself walked towards the Great Hall for Lunch one day. "Next time, I'll remember to bring a gas mask."

The girls giggled.

Naruto smiled, and hoisted them up, in order to dash through the hallways.

Filch snuck through the hallways, whip in hand, trying to get some of the wrongdoers, but there were so many of them by now that he never knew in which direction to turn. The Inquisitorial Squad struggled to help him, but it's memebers seemed bound to have strage incidents now and again.

Warrington of the Slytherin Quidditch Team had to stay in the infirmary for some time, because he seemed to have grown corneflakes underneath his skin, and Pansy Parkinson got nice antlers.

Meanwhile it became very clear, just how many Skiving Snackboxes Fred and George had been able to sell, before they left Hogwarts. Umbridge just had to put a foot into a classroom, and instantly over half of the residing students fell unconscious, or started to puke, or got dangerous fever, or bled strongly out of the nose. And Harry could've sworn he heard Cat mubmle that she wished, she could use those sweets as well.

Falling into hysterics, she tried to find out what the source of these mysterious events was, but the students stubbornly told her they suffered 'Umbridgitis'. After having given detention to four classes in a row, and still not being able to pinpoint the source of it all, the Toad had to give up, and let the bleeding, fainting, sweating, and gagging students leave her class in hoards.

But even those who ate the Snackboxes, couldn't measure up to Peeves, the master of chaos, who seemed to have taken Fred's words to heart. Giggling like a mad man, he dashed through the school, turning tables upside down, breaking through blackboards, destroying vases, and statues; two times he closed Mrs. Norris into one of the armors, where Filch had to free her angrily. Peeves smashed lanterns against walls, and blew candles out, played with torches over the head of screaming students, and made sure that piles of parchment would fall, and scatter across the floor.

He flooded the second floor by opening all faucets, and ripping out the toilets, threw a bag of spiders into the Great Hall during breakfast (Sasuke burned them to crisps- only those who got too close to a slightly, in disgust whimpering Sakura, that is. The other guards defended themselves as well, but ignored the whole disaster, otherwise), and whenever he felt like taking a break, he followed Umbridge around all day, so he could huff loudly, whenever she opened her mouth to speak.

Aside from Filch, none of the personel seemed to move a finger to help the Pink Punk. In fact, one week after Fred, and George's departure, Harry saw Professor McGonagall walk right past Peeves, who was trying to make one of the chandelier fall onto the ground, and he was almost sure that he heard her say "Screw it the other direction." . To top all that off, Montague still hadn't recovered, and one Tuesday morning you could witness two very angry looking parents walking towards the entrance.

"Shouldn't we say something?" Hermione asked. "Maybe it will help Madam Pomfrey to heal him?"

"Of course not, he'll be fine sooner or later," Ron answered uncaringly.

"In any case, more problems for Umbridge," Harry added with satisfaction.

They were trying to make their tea cups walk. Unfortunately, Harry's cup had short legs, and Ron's had legs that weren't strong enough to hold it up, so that it crashed down, and fell to pieces. Hermione whispered "Reparo" to mend it, before wondering aloud, whether or not Montague was permanently injured.

"Who cares?" Fox said in an exaggerated voice. "But if you are so worried, I'll tell Lynx to take a look at him. I'm sure she won't like it, though."

"Uhm…thanks, I guess."

"If you want to worry about someone, then worry for me, Hermione?"

"For you?"

"Yeah, when mom's next letter gets through the control system, I'll be in serious trouble. She'll say it was my fault that Fred, and George left the school. That I should've stopped them, holding onto their brooms or something."

"Now that would be completely unfair. You couldn't have done anything. And if they really have a shop in Diagon Alley, they must have planned this for some time now."

"That's another thing," Ron admitted. "Where did they get the money from? Do you think they did sold stolen cauldrons for mundungus, or something?"

"No, they didn't," Harry spoke up.

"How would you know?"  "Because…because the gold is my price from last year's tournament. I gave it to them," he said after a moment's hesitation.

"Oh, Harry. You can't be serious."

"But I am, and I do not regret it."

"That's great, Harry!" Ron cheered. "Then this is all your fault. Can I write that to mom?"

"Would probably be better."

After that, Hermione didn't talk to him for the rest of class, but Harry knew she wouldn't keep it in for very long. So when she did open her mouth, he didn't even let her start, and told her right away that he wouldn't ask them to give the gold back. Hermione, on the other hand, just wanted to know, when Harry was going to ask Snape to continue their occlumency lessons, because she didn't believe that he didn't have strange dreams anymore- many thanks to Ron. He quickly made up an excuse, saying he had dreamt of Quidditch, but in all reality he had dreamt of that hallways again, the room with the many doors, and then a room full of crystal balls on cupboards.

**End of chapter 19!**

**A/N: Okay, another chapter done. We're getting pretty close now. 'grins' Hope you enjoed reading this. Please leave a comment. Reviews are love!**


	20. OWLs and HomeComing Plots

**Hogwart's ANBU**

**Chapter 20: O.W.L.s and Home-Coming Plots**

"It's a giant!"

"Huh?" Harry, and Hermione turned around, flabbergastered.

"He wants to show you a giant, he's been keeping in the forest," Lynx elaborated, sending Hagrid, who was fidgeting nervously, a scornful look.

"How do you know?" Harry queried.

Behind the pink-haired guard, Raven scoffed. Sakura slapped his arm, telling him to be polite. Sasuke just shook his head, and rolled his eyes. Again, the ANBU had been forced to witness the wizard's stupid little game, and again, he was bored out of his mind. This time, he had chosen to stand with the Griffindors, and leave the blonde dobe to deal with the Slytherins.

Neji, and Shikamaru were standing with the Rawenclaws, Sayuri was sitting against the wall of the tower where the teachers sat, and Kakashi… Kakashi was down on the playing grounds because the yelling, shouting, screeching students were too loud for his sensitive ears. Just like during the last game, the blue-haired boy entertained himself by following the tiny golden ball with the silver wings with his sharingan, and smirked at the blindness of both teams' seekers. He was pretty sure Neji, and his aunt were doing the same thing, though it was a little easier for them. With their Byakugan activated, it didn't matter where they turned their heads, they would see the whole field anyway.

As for Kakashi, he was probably reading his book…

"Well?" Hermione prompted.

"Hn."

"Dumbledore-san asked us to take another look at the forest, after he noticed all the riots in there. Just after that centaur came to teach at this school. Remember it, Raven-kun?"

"Aa."

**Flashback**

"Why do I have to come with you?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because," _Sakura answered._

_Sasuke sighed, exasperated. Arguing with her was always futile, why couldn't he get that into his head. Maybe because this had a strong scent of deja-vù. Wasn't this the exact same discussion they had, when she dragged him to Hogsmead? In any case, it reminded him a lot of that. Mostly because she was clinging to his arm like a leech- not that he minded her soft, warm body being pressed against him. It sent a tingly feeling up and down his spine. What was wrong with him? Lately, he couldn't stop thinking about her without feeling sparks all over his body!_

"I dislike spiders, okay?" _the young woman whimpered slightly._

"Spiders?" _Sasuke dead-panned._

"Uh-huh." _Sakura nodded just once as if afraid more could lure them out, and her grip on his arm tightened._

"I've never seen you fret over them so much. Surely there are a few back in your parent's house as well?" _he asked, curious._

"Yes, but those are small."

"And these?"

"Big, horribly big. And hairy. And-" _She finished off with a shiver that vibrated through his body due to their close connection. He tensed. What the hell was wrong with him?!?_

"Big spiders, huh? Scary," _the blue-haired boy mocked._

_She slapped his arm playfully._

"Not funny," _she whined._

"Tell me about it," _he mubmled, rubbing the sore spot. At least she hadn't broken anything. Sakura sometimes didn't know just how strong she really was. That was how it happened that she accidentally broke Naruto's jaw during a sparring session- taijutsu only._ "You should lay down on the slapping arms. It's dangerous. You could- What was that?"

_A drawn out growl had carried to them threw the forest. By the sound it had to be a big predator, really big. Sasuke looked at Sakura, and nodded to her, hoping it wasn't one of the spiders, because in that case, the cherry blossom wouldn't be of much help. She let go of his arm, drawing her katana. Biting into her thumb, she summoned Pakkun to track down the creature that had made that monstrous sound. Sasuke did the same thing, only that instead of a dog a snake appeared. The Uchiha had gone for one of the higher-up summons, and so it came to no surprise to Sakura that both of them fitted easily onto the snake's back as it slid through the trees, following the pug's accurate sense of hearing, and his nose. Suddenly, Pakkun stopped dead in his tracks._

"What is it?" _Sakura asked._

_Not a second later, Pakkun had curled up in her lap._

"You really don't want to know what emmited those growls," _he said as another one shook the trees._

"Are you frightened?" _the snake hissed._

"You'd be too, if you were me, worm."

"What did you jusssst call me?!?" _The snake was about to turn around, and Sakura encricled her arms protectively around the brown pug, when Sasuke told his summon to 'just follow the damn sounds'._ "Yessss, massster."

_Begrudgingly, the snake summon continued on their way. It wasn't long before they found the source of the strange growls. Only that it weren't growls. It were snores. Giant snores. Snores of a giant. Mouth agape, both ANBU just stared at the sleeping creature for a moment. Dirty, and naked, except for a leather-skirt around his hips, there lay a human-like being infront of them, about five meters long, snoring loudly. _

_Sakura moved closer to Sasuke again._

"Found something you dislike more than spiders?" _the Uchiha inquired._

_The pink-haired medic just nodded._

"You don't think…?"

"Oh, I bet. Hagrid-san really does want to lose his job, it seems."

"What are we going to do?"

"You're asking me? You're my superior, remember?" _Sasuke mocked her, smirking beneath his mask._ "You decide."

_Sakura's brows creased in thought._

"We can hardly just kill him. Hagrid-san surely has a reason why he brought him here. Let's report this to sensei, and Dumbledore-san. They'll know what to do about it. If anything at all."

"Hn… Well, it does explain why everything is so damn quiet in here." _As soon as Sasuke had spoken the words, the sound of a dozen hoofs could be heard, and they were closing in. Sakura slapped a hand over her masked face. Now this was exactly like that time, she met the spiders. Couldn't something for once just go as planned? Possibly without a fight on their hands?_

'No, of course not…' _the young woman thought bitterly as she watched a herd of centaurs appear at the top of the hollow, they were standing in. Pakkun growled at them, jumping from Sakura's arms, and Sasuke's snake bared her fangs, both summons of the same opinion for once. The ANBU operatives on the other hand sheathed their swords. The blue-haired boy lowered into fighting stance, ready to make the necessary seals to burn the whole forest. His female superior cracked her knuckles a little in annoyance, but refused to do anything else that might lead them to attack._

"What do you want?" _she ground out._

_Except maybe for this… Well, she was in a bad mood!_

"We want you to leave our forest. You're not welcome here!" _one of them shouted, shifting his weight from one hoof to another._

"Your forest? I didn't see your name on it! What is your name, anyway?"

"Magorian," _the centaur answered. He had long black hair that surrounded a regal face._

"Well then, Magorian. I'm Lynx, and these are Raven, Pakkun, and…uhm…" _She looked expectantly at the snake._

"Ssssane," _the snake replied._

"…and Sane. And we'll stay within this forest for as long as we have business here, be that part of the mission, or just for training. And we don't give a damn what you think about that. This forest is not your property. It belongs to all the creatures living in here, and I don't hear any of the other ones complaining about our presence."

"How dare you?!?" _another centaur spoke up, his beard trembling with the shout that fell from his lips._ "Arrogant, little-"

"Says you," _Sasuke growled, taking a step forward._

"Oh, enough, already!" _Sakura huffed._ "We're finished for today, and will leave this forest, for now. If we come back, however, we expect more hospitality. We did nothing to you, or your people, Magorian. Your problems with the wizarding community are not our fault, and therefore you will just have to tolerate us. We don't wish to harm any of you, but we will defend ourselves if you attack."

"I'm Bane, and you'll die!" _another one hissed._

 "Not wi-sss-out taking you wi-sss us-sss," _Sane hissed back._

_Bane drew an arrow from the bag behind his back, but Magorian stopped him._

"They're still young, barely into manhood-"

"Excuse me! I'm a girl!"

_Sasuke took a step back, once his pink-haired comrade clenched her fist._

"And they are right. They have not insulted us before. We do not kill the innocent. Today, you may go. But stay away from here. You're not welcome."

"Hmpf!" _was all the answer Magorian got out of Sakura, before the pink-haired medic punched the nearest tree. It broke immediately, falling right in between the centaur's hoofs, and the ANBU's feet. The centaurs raised themselves onto two hoofs, taken aback. Shocked by the skinny girl's brute strength, neither Magorian nor Bane dared to say anything for a few seconds. Time that Sasuke, Pakkun, and Sane used wisely to inch away slowly. _

_Ever so slooooooooooooooowly…_

'Uh, she's(sss) mad,' _they all thought simultaneously, exchanging glances. _

_Magorian recovered from the shock first, and was about to answer something, when they could hear something shifting. Something big. Turning around, Sakura hissed a short _"Oh, shit!"_, as she had completely forgotten the giant to be there. Cursing under her breath, she let her mind set to work on the upcoming problem instantly._

'Come on, girl!' _she cheered for herself._ 'You're Kakashi's brightest student. Time to show how you earned that title! Think! Think! Think!…Cha!'

"Sas- I mean, Raven, use your doujutsu. Put him to sleep, quick!" _she shouted over to her comrade._

'Easy for you to say,' _the boy thought, grumbling. _'You don't have to stand close enough to him to see your reflection in his eyes…'

_He did it none the less. Swiftly pulling off his mask- damn the centaurs, he could always sharingan them to forget his face- he walked over to the waking giant hastily, crouching just slightly to look him in the eye. His own eyes were blazing red with three tomoe spinning quickly in order to lull the creature back to sleep. It seemed to work well enough, because a minute later the loud rumble of the giant's snores carried through the woods again. Sighing, Sasuke shook his head to get the dizziness out of it. This had costed him a lot of chakra. Apparently, giants were more resistant to these kind of things than wizards. Sasuke could put Harry into a thousand, and one nightmares one right after another, and he wouldn't feel half as tired as he was now. Sane slid towards him, so that he could sit on her long body. Pakkun was sitting on her head, holding the Uchiha's mask out to him. Grateful, the blue-haired boy took it, and let himself fall onto his summon, lying down tiredly. If the centaurs decided to attack now, Sakura would have to deal with it pretty much alone. He couldn't even stand anymore._

"Your friend seems tired," _Bane mocked the pink-haired girl._

_Big mistake, because Sakura's eye began twitching underneath her animal-mask. That was a sure sign that her Mini-Tsunade-temper was getting the better of her._

"Lucky you," _she snapped back, moving to stand by Sasuke's side. Placing two fingers to each of his temples, she began to soothe her green healing chakra into his body, focusing on the pathways between his eyes, and his brain. It was important to keep them from progressing towards the same problems all Sharingan users had._

"Sane, take us back to the castle, okay?" _she asked, while seating herself behind Sasuke, and putting his head to rest on her lap. She purposedly ignored the still baffled centaurs from then on, instead slipped her maks up a little, and leaned down to gently kiss each of her firend's eyelids._

End of Flashback

"So, you see. It's a giant."

"A giant?" Hermione whispered furiously, careful not to alert anyone to the topic of their discussion. "Oh, Hagrid, how could you bring a giant to Hogwarts?"

"I didn't have a choice. He was always mobbed by the others… Because he's so little, y'know."

"Little, ha!" Lynx huffed.

"I couldn't leave him there," Hagrid continued. "He's my brother, well half-brother. I had to take him back with me. I wanted to teach him a little english, and a few manners, in order to show everyone that he's not the monster they think he is. Or, would think. But with Umbridge holding the power in Hogwarts now, I'm expecting to be fired any day, and…"

"And?" Harry asked, not liking where this was obviously going.

"Well, I thought… if you could just go talk to him once in a while…then…" Hagrid broke off as cheers erupted from the Griffindors around them, and they began singing their own version of 'Weasley is our king'. Sighing, Harry and Hermione promised to look after Hagrid's little brother, should he be fired, while both guards simply shook their heads at them.

3333333333333333333

"You didn't watch the game?" Ron asked, when Harry and Hermione confessed.

He had been in such a great mood. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything, but how he had helped the Griffindors win the school's Quidditch cup. He continued to talk about the game for the whole morning, and well into the afternoon, so that it was kind of hard for the other two members of the Golden Trio to find the possibility to tell him about 'Grawp' as Hagrid had explained his brother was called. Infact, if Lynx hadn't cleared her throat, and told him that they had something more important to discuss than some silly game- Harry and Ron scowled at that- they probably wouldn't have gotten around to tell him at all.

"All we saw was the first goal by Davies," Hermione admitted. "Then, Hagrid had to talk to us. About why he has always been so badly injured these past few months. He wanted us to come into the forest with him, but Lynx, and Raven flat-out refused to let us go in there. They told us, Hagrid had hidden his half-brother there. A real giant, Ron… And we kind of promised to try, and teach him english."

 "You're kidding me?"

"I wish I was," Hermione replied.

"But, we have the O.W.L. exams! You can't… We can't… Oh, god!"

"Wolf would've been enough, you know!" the silver-haired man chuckled lightly at the hysterical states of Hogwarts' Golden Trio as he came to change position with his pink-haired student. "What happened to you? Why all the long faces? It's a sunny day. You should enjoy the weather."

And then Hermione told the story another time.

"I see."

"Is that all? 'I see'? Are you not going to say anything else?" Harry asked, irritated.

"Well, what am I supposed to say? You got yourselves into this mess. Now you have to get yourselves out, or just go along with it." Kakashi shrugged.

At that, the Golden Trio fell silent.

"Maybe, Hagrid won't get fired until we're through with the O.W.L.s…" Ron said, hopefully.

Somehow, that was hard to believe.

**33333333333333333**

June came, and with it the O.W.L.s. The teachers didn't give homework anymore, and instead used their classes to work over the topics of the year again. The atmosphere was tense. It didn't leave much space for anything else in Harry's mind, even though he asked himself whether or not Lupin had actually talked to Snape about giving him occlumency lessons once more. If he did, Snape had ignored him just as thoroughly as he was ignoring Harry at the moment, which was actually a good thing, since the Boy-Who-Lived had already enough to to without additional lessons with Snape.

Especially since Wolf didn't seem to be more lenient towards them, just because they had important exams that would decide over their whole future coming up. He was being as much of a hard-ass as he had been the whole year, his training as vigorously as ever. One Thursday afternoon, when the fifth-years were waiting for their guard / teacher, Earnie Macmillian started off a conversation about how many hours a day they were learning. He was already launching himself into a rant, when a familiar puff of smoke appeared infront of them, only that this time, instead of just Wolf, Cat stepped out of it- and out of the other ANBU's embrace- with him.

"Sorry we're late. We had a…uhm…discussion to finish."

For some reason, a profously blushing Harry kind of believed him this time.

Fox laughed hysterically at this, and Deer muttered his usual, lazy "Troublesome".

"Today," Kakashi continued, ignoring the blonde, and the pineapple-head, "I want to do a field test. When I call your names, you'll walk over to your partners. Once everyone is teamed up- teams of four, it will be- you'll begin your sparring. It will be an all out fight against another team. Whichever teams win more matches than they lose will get an 'O', and the rest of the day off. The others are going to run fifty rounds around the lake."

A collective groan could be heard as they were teamed up. As always, every team was made of one member from each house. This way, Harry ended up with Padma Patil, Earnie Macmillian, and… Malfoy. Again. Another frustrated groan escaping his lips, they set to work. The teams that were supposed to fight in each round, first lined up infront of the silver-haired guard, and, when he gave the sign, they all hastily disappeared into the bushes, or whatever cover they could find. For this lesson, Wolf had asked them to meet him close to the Forbidden Forest, so there was enough to hide behind, because 'Stealth is one of a shinobi's greatest weapons'.

Therefore, their whole fight was about sneaking around the trees, and get their enemy before they got them. Meanwhile, if a student looked up in the right moment, they would be able to see a shadow flying from one branch to another. Undoubtly one of the other guards, checking on who was eliminated. For this better game of 'hide and seek', Wolf had given them tiny balloons filled with different coloured paint, so that they couldn't really injure themselves. But also, to make sure by whom a player had been thrown out of the game. Harry's team had red balloons.

The raven-haired boy held it gently as he carefully walked up to the low branch of a tree. He opened a channel on the radios the guards had given to them, and tapped his finger against it in the code they had to learn over the past week specificly for this game. By tapping his finger, he conveyed to his teammates where he was, and where he saw one of their opponents. Once done, he silently slid closer to his target, until he was directly above it. Suddenly, Dean Thomas let himself fall backwards, throwing his green balloon into the air into Harry's direction. The Boy-Who-Lived quickly dodged it, then another, before throwing his own paint-ball at Dean.

It hit its target.

Harry had been complimented by Fox about his good aim before, and he surely was thankful for it right now. Dean, on the other hand, looked at him scornfully. Harry mouthed a 'sorry' as he saw that he had hit his fellow Griffindor on the back of his head. Dean looked at him accusingly for another second, then shrugged, and left the forest to sit by Padma, who had been hit first, it seemed.

Harry heard a cracking sound, and turned hastily, balloon ready to be thrown at whoever was there, when he noticed that it was just Earnie. He sighed. Communicating with hand signs, they agreed on proceeding east. Just as they made it to another branch, a green balloon burst against the tree behind them. Jumping to a higher branch, Harry returned the fire, and found Pansy Parkinson aiming at them. Just as he was about to throw a balloon at her, a whistle could be heard.

The sign that the time was up.

As Harry exited the forest, he found Padma, and Malfoy sitting their with Dean. Two to one. They had lost.

'If only I had thrown a little faster,' Harry thought, begrudged.

"Of course, it doesn't really matter what you know. It's important **who **you know. My father is a good friend of Professor Marchbanks. She was already over at ours for dinner, and such…" Malfoy said on their way back to the castle, loud enough to make a few other students panick.

"Do you think that's true?" Hermione whispered.

"Even if it is, we couldn't do anything about it," Ron replied darkly.

"I don't think it's true. Griselda Marchbanks is a good friend of my grandma, and she never once mentioned the Malfoys," Neville chimed in.

"And what kind of a person is she?" Hermione asked instantly.

"Pretty much like grandma," Neville answered a little depressed.

"Well, it certainly won't harm you that you know her," Ron tried to cheer him up.

"I doubt that makes much of a difference. My grandma always tells her how I'm not as good as my parents, you know." The chubby boy sniffled a little, which in turn provoked Naruto to squeeze his shoulder gently.

"Don't worry about it. I was never good at tests either, and look where I am now. ANBU, the elites of the elites-"

"And still nothing more than a simple soldier, far away from a promotion," Deer piped up, chuckling.

"I'll have you know that Baa-chan said I'm on the list. I'll get promoted soon. We can't all have an IQ over two-hundred."

"It would be nice if you had one at all."

"Oi! That was uncalled for. I'm smarter than I look!" Naruto shouted, hurt.

"…Yare, yare. Sorry, Fox, you're right, it's just… I got a message from my fiancé."

"You're engaged?" Neville asked, while the Goloden Trio remembered their first evening with the guards at Grimmauld Place, and the discussion about who was 'getting in bed' with who.

"What happened? Is she ill?… Is she pregnant?"

A deadly glare from the other guard.

"It's nothing about her, but about our guest," Shikamaru replied tiredly.

"Hin- I mean, Eagle's wife?"

"Eagle is married?" Neville tried again, but again, he was ignored.

"Did the Elders try to kill her again?" Naruto continued as if he hadn't heard.

"WHAT?!?" The Golden Trio, and Neville yelled.

"No, they've gone for subtlety this time. Apparently, they found an old Family Law that states that a Clan Leader, who is still on the active duty roster, has to have an heir within 24 months of his initiation-"

"That's by the end of this year! You've got to be kidding me," Naruto shouted angrily. "How did Eagle react?"

"He doesn't know yet. She doesn't want to worry him, and hasn't told him yet. She wants to discuss this once we get back, and find a solution that works without having to procreate. And now my fiancé wants me to relay the message. Troublesome."

"I bet."

"Wait. Back to the 'killing-thing'. What do you mean the Elders want to kill Eagle's wife?" Hermione snapped at them.

"She's been reforming the clan, and they don't like it, because it means less advantages for them. Ergo, they want her gone from the position," Naruto explained, before Shikamaru cleared his throat.

"For starters, Fox, that's none of their business. And secondly, Eagle is standing there at the door. We wouldn't want him to overhear this, do we? That would be just-"

"Troublesome, yes I know. But don't you have to tell him anyway?"

Shikamaru simply glared at him, and Naruto thought it wise to shut up.

"And I guess those wizards over there are Professor Marchbanks, and her colleagues."

"Let's take a closer look at them," Ron suggested, and before either Fox, or Deer could stop them, they were discreetly hurrying over to where the Toad-woman greeted the little group of wizards, and witches.

**33333333333333333**

Happy was not a word often used to describe Hyuuga Neji.

Infact, with his life, it was an exceptionable event, if he was content once in a while. But right now, right now, he was distinctly unhappy. He had just received a scroll from home, from his wife. She was claiming that everything was fine, and that the Hyuuga Elders weren't trying to blow her up, or slice her throat in her sleep, or poison her through her afternoon tea anymore while she was at the compound. Which in turn could only mean that they were either plotting a new, fabulous way of murdering their Family Head, or they had gone over to try something else.

Neither was mentioned in the scroll Hyuuga Hinata sent him.

'_Of course not,' _Neji thought bitterly. _'She would never send me information that would worry me, and possibly distract me from my mission. She would always put my safety first.'_

And it was exactly that, which irritated, and worried him so much.

Why couldn't she just be selfish for once?!? Why couldn't she be a little more out-going like her sister? Why couldn't she, for heaven's sake, stop worrying about others for once, and think of herself? She had changed. She was much stronger now in body, and mind, but did she change the almost absolute kindness of her character? No, she still sought harmony, and avoided conflicts, she still felt that her needs were inferior, and unimportant compared to others'.

And it was driving him crazy!

Of course, a second scroll had arrived minutes after her own. This second one was signed by no less than three very worried people. Hanabi, Temari, and the Kazekage himself. By the way phrases had been scratched, rewritten, and scratched again, they had been very nervous about how to tell him. In the end, he found a few lines hastily scribbled onto the scroll. Short, and straight to the point:

**The Elders want an heir to grow in nee-chan by the end of the year, or they will take over the clan by law. **

**Nee-chan is too nice to tell you this.**

**Hanabi (Gaara)**

**Wrote to Shika that he should tell you, but the lazy ass probably found it too troublesome.**

**Temari**

Needless to say, Neji had burned the godforsaken message in the closest fireplace immediately.

The Hyuuga prodigy was seething with rage, but there was nothing he could do. **Especially** because there was nothing he could do. Before he could think about, how to broach the subject with Hinata, he had received notion to get to the school gates. Apparently, the examiners had arrived, and he was supposed to escort them to their dormitories. Without a word, he 'poofed' to the entrance, almost giving Umbridge a heart attack as she had already been standing there, greeting a tiny witch that seemed to be a little deaf as she answered rather loudly, though standing right infront of them.

"Yes, yes, we had a peaceful travel, thanks, but it wasn't our first time to come here, after all," she said, more like shouted, impatiently. "I didn't hear anything from Dumbledore! You probably don't know where he is, do you?"

"Not the slightest idea," Umbridge answered, chancing Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville a dark look as they halted at the foot of the stairs. "But it's just a matter of time. We'll find him."

"I doubt it," Professor Marchbanks replied with conviction. "Not if he doesn't want to be found. And I have to know… I personally took his N.E.W.T. exams in Transfiguration, and Charms. He could do things with his wand… And you are one of the guards he hired, I suppose. Have already heard that you didn't leave, even after Dumbledore was gone."

Neji nodded stiffly.

"Well, this may not be my first visit at Hogwarts, but it will definitely be the most interesting…" Professor Marchbanks smiled in excitement.

"Yes, well…" the Toad-woman muttered, while Harry, and his friends dragged themselves up the staircase as slowly as humanly possible. "Why don't we continue this in my office. I could offer you a cup of tea."

**333333333333333333**

"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Hermione asked as they came out of their written examination for Charms. "I thought that question number 23 was-"

"Hermione," Ron interrupted her, exasperated. "One time is enough."

"I agree," Sayuri said as she accompanied them to the room they would be waiting in, until they were called up for the practical exam. "And all I did was watch."

She stayed with them in the room, but this time her presence was not soothing. In fact, it made Harry even more nervous. When Hermione left for her exam, she was trembling. None of the students once called upon returned to the room, the others were waiting in, and therefore Harry, and Ron had no idea, how it went for their female friend. Ron assured them both that everything would be fine for Hermione. She was the school's genius after all. Ten minutes later Professor Flitwick called Harry out. Ron gave him one last thumbs up, and Cat seemed to wink at him- of course it was impossible to be sure, what with the mask- then he left for the Great Hall, where Flitwick directed Harry to a certain Professor Tofty. On his way to the older man, he saw Deer, and Raven sitting on the windows to watch over everything. To his right, Professor Marchbanks was currently testing Malfoy, who lost his concentration when he glared at Harry, so that his glass crashed onto the floor.

Harry grinned.

"That's right. Don't be nervous, Mr. Potter," Professor Tofty told him in a shaky voice. "Now, please…"

All in all, Harry thought that his performance had to be acceptable. Better than Malfoy's in any case, even though instead of changing a rat's colour to orange, he made it grow until it was as big as his chest. He was happy that Hermione hadn't been there, and didn't tell her anything about it. He confided in Ron, however, since the red-head had changed a plate into a mushroom without knowing how. Next up was Transfiguration the following day. Harry was sure that he had been better in the practical exam than in his written test, but of course he wouldn't know until July just how good, or bad he'd been. Wensday they tested the students' knowledge about herbs, and magical plants, and the Griffindors were happy to be on such a good foot with Lynx, because she truly was as much of an expert as Professor Sprout, patiently working over their material on the topic with them. Thursday finally came Defence against the Dark Arts, and Harry was back in his element. His written exam was like a child's game to him, and during their practical test, he was more than happy to use every curse, and spell Umbridge hadn't wanted to properly teach them right under her nose. His examiner was Professor Tofty again, who was more than just excited at Harry's performance.

"Well, that would be all, Mr. Potter… unless…" he whispered, leaning forward. "My dear friend Tiberius Ogden told me you can conjure a real patronus. For a little extra point…?"

Harry lifted his wand towards Umbridge, and imagined how she was fired.

"Expecto Patronum!" he chanted happily. A silver stag broke from the tip of his wand, and ran through the hall. Everyone turned to look at the beautiful creature, and Harry could see the blonde guard pump his fist into the air in a cheery "Believe it!", before hugging his sensei, who in turn threw him to the far end of the hall. Apparently, Wolf didn't like to be hugged- well, at least not by other males!

 The satisfaction that spread through Harry's system at his performance in DADA stayed there, even through his Potions exam, for which the Griffindors again bugged the pink-haired guard with questions. Under normal circumstances, the weekend would've been free, but since they had an extra class, Harry, and the other students found themselves sitting in the Great Hall Saturday morning to write a test over how to rightly throw kunai when your target is fifty feet from you, and you have strong wind coming from north-east…

It reminded Harry of a math-test. As if he hadn't taken enough of those when he went to his muggle-school!

The students were more than happy, when that was over, but of course there was also the practical exam in the afternoon…

**End of chapter 20!**

**A/N: Uh oh, wonder what Kakashi's got planned for their practical exam! Who's as excited as me? :P  
Well, I hope you liked it. Please tell me what you think.**


	21. OWLS and other Plans

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**Chapter 21: O.W.L.s, and other Plans**

For their practical exam, the ANBU had pulled out all the stops. First they had to take an endurance test by making a steeplechase that included- preferably- running over the Black Lake, jumping from branch to branch at the borders of the Forbidden Forest, and avoiding the various traps the guards had set up for them.

Most of the students had to swim through the dark water at some point, which in turn made it much harder to jump through the trees in their wet clothing. A few times they almost didn't make it, either crashing down from exhaustion, or just barely avoiding another set of explosive tags, or poisoned kunai that came their way. Or they became entangled within a net of fine wires that, if they tried to wriggle free, cut deep into their flesh, making them visible with their blood. Harry had found Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in such a net, struggling ardously to get free, while only entangling themselves more into the wires. As much as he enjoyed seeing Malfoy, and his blokes suffer, they didn't deserve to die from bloodloss. He quickly took out a kunai, and cut through the wires in a hasty movement. The not-so-golden Trio crashed down upon the earth grunting, groaning at the pain, but alive. Deer arrived a second later to pull them to their feet, and walk them out onto the field where Lynx was waiting, so the medic could patch them up.

"I don't see why we're even taking this test!" Seamus complained as he landed on the branch beside Harry. He was accompanied by Dean. "We're not going to get any results out of this, anyway."

"And that's where you're wrong," Hermione replied when she jumped down from a higher branch. "I've heard Luna talking to Fox and Raven, asking the exact same thing."

The younger, and older years didn't have any exams at the moment, seeing as it was Saturday, so they could spend their free time however they wanted. Most of them chose to watch the fifth- and seventh-years take their practical exam in Taijutsu. The fifth-years for their O.W.L.s, the seventh-years for their N.E.W.T.s. Apparently, everyone thought it highly amusing to watch their comrades struggle in the test Wolf had thought up for them. In the middle of the clearing was a rather large amount of students, sitting in the grass, or on their picnic blanket. The guards must have counted on this to happen, as they were all here to supervise their test, and make sure no one gets roughed up too badly.

"And what did they say?"

"Well, apparently, they'll give us our practical evaluation right after we've completed the test, while the results of the written exam will be sent here with one of their messenger hawks, once a certain Ibiki is done with correcting them," the bushy-haired girl replied.

"So, we're actually getting O.W.L.s out of this?" Dean asked.

"No, not O.W.L.s I guess. Just… some extra points…"

The others groaned.

"Come on," Hermione urged them. "Complaining won't do us any good. We'd still have to take the test, so let's hurry, and get this over with."

"I agree. The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can sink into my bed to never stand up again!" Seamus told them.

Everyone nodded, and they were on their way. Fortunately, when you knew you could be attacked any time, you keep your guard up enough to at least avoid any life-threatening injuries. Harry was even more grateful that they had been given a kunai pouch each, which contained said daggers, as well as shuriken, senbon, and even some smoke bombs. Without the different weapons, the Boy-Who-Lived was sure they wouldn't have made it back to the start in one piece as they wouldn't have been able to deflect all those pointy things flying at them from every direction time and again.

Allowing himself to fall into the grass, Harry released a relieved sigh. It was over. The hardest test ever taken, was over. And he had the warm feeling not to have completely failed. He felt a shadow falling over him, and looked up to find the pink-haired guard standing infront of him, a glowing hand extended towards him. The raven-haired boy felt the surge of energy, and warmth of her healing technigue, felt all the scratches, and scrapes disappear from his body.

He sighed again.

Sakura giggled.

Harry looked up.

"You're not done yet, sorry," the medic told him, pointing behind her back. Shifting a little, Harry noticed two things. First, everyone else was standing up with groans leaving their lips, obviously bracing themselves for something. Second, if he looked a little further towards the lake, he could see Wolf holding something in his hand, jingling it. A thin rope. And tied to it's end was…

Harry gulped.

Sakura giggled.

Harry looked up.

"Your second bell test," she spoke softly, reminiscing.

Harry groaned. This was not happening. They had just taken a steeplechase, and now the guards wanted them to fight?!? They were completely exhausted from the race, but instead of leaving them be, they wanted to humiliate them. Again. Wasn't the first bell test enough, already. The students had understood then why the ANBU called them weak, pathetic even. There was no need to humiliate them further by showing off infront of the whole school. Not to mention the other examiners who had come to watch the show along with the rest of the staff. Even Umbridge was there, looking rather pale, and to be kind-of on her heels around the guards, but there nonetheless.

"Don't worry. We'll go easy on you," Sakura tried to reassure him, knowing very well that Kakashi would do anything but!

"But why take the test again?" Harry asked. "Now that we know what it really is about-" 

"Oh, but this time it is all about the bells, Harry-kun." Lynx chuckled at his shocked expression.

"You mean…"

"Yep."

"We actually have to…"

"Yeah."

"But that's impossible!" Harry argued.

"Nothing's impossible if you put your mind to it. Fox, and I got our bells from sensei the second time."

"Really? How?"

"Well… we tricked him. We used his weakness," Lynx admitted carefully. She knew where this was going. "But that won't work again, even if I told you what it is. Sensei never falls for the same trick twice, and I wouldn't know what other weakness he might have. One you could exploit, I mean."

There was, of course, Kakashi's limited chakra reserves. Someone like Naruto could just wait for him to become tired, if the silver-haired jounin wouldn't beat him long before that. But the wizards didn't have nearly as much energy as their sensei… Hell, they had less energy than most genin, though they actually did improve over the course of the year. Then there was his addiction to porn, and not only the written one. You could always try to distract him with an extra sway in your hips and such, but these wizards didn't know the first thing about seduction. Not to mention that they would probably be too prudish to try, even if they knew. Plus, half of them were male, and Kakashi did not swing that way- unless the mission required it, and even then the most he would do would be to kiss the target, in order to get the information **out of**, or the kunai **into** him! Lastly, there was his limited eyesight, since he kept his sharingan mostly closed, even after they gave him a transfusion with Uchiha blood. Old habits died hard, after all, and it still was not the same as actually being an Uchiha…

"One last cue?" Harry asked, face pale as if he just got an invitation to his own funeral.

"Try to come at him from his left side," Lynx answered, and winked.

Harry looked at her, a little bewildered.

"Just trust me on this. If you're lucky-"

"I'll get the bell?"

"Uhm…well, no. But that's not the point of this exercise."

"I thought it was all about the bells? Didn't you say so?"

The Boy-Who-Lived was genuinely confused.

"Oh, it is about the bells, alright. But we would never expect you to actually get them. That would be just asking too much after not even one year of training. You only have to get as close as you can, and then we'll decide whether or not you pass. Cat, and I will stand on the sidelines. If you have any injuries, we'll take care of it. Pomfrey-san will be there, too. The orthers will be taking your exam shortly. Just go over there. You know your team, it's the same as last time."

"Ugh!" Harry groaned. Great, now he had to work with Malfoy, again.

Complaining wouldn't help, though, as they all lined up infront of the ANBU. One member of each team had drawn a number, determinating who they will be up against. Harry had fretted a little over this, as he had talked to Lynx only about what to do of Wolf was their opponent. Fortunately, Padma Patil, who had drawn for their team, had gotten a 'One' on her little piece of paper. Harry had almost wanted to sigh in relieve, telling the others what the pink-haired girl hd told him. They all nodded to each other, even Malfoy gave a single nod of his head in understanding. The two of them had agreed on putting aside their personal issues until this exam was over.

After that, it would be business as usual.

Coming to a halt a few feet away from the silver-haired male, Harry let his gaze drift over the crowd. He spotted his friends pretty soon. Ron's group would have to fight Eagle, and Harry didn't envy him. The brown-haird guard had proven to be quite a fearsome opponent on past events. He may attack with the the palm of his hands only, but it sent this gut-wrenching feeling through you, if he so much as brushed you, and you tend to bend over to puke quite often. The blonde had laughed at him, when asked about that, and told him it was a special Taijutsu style created by Eagle's family, and that instead of attacking your outer shell, he aimed his blasts at your inner organs…

No, Harry definitely did not envy Ron.

Chancing his red-headed friend a sympathetic smile, he moved on, looking for his bushy-haired, book-addicted girl-friend. He felt relief wash over him, once he noticed that her team had drawn a three, and ended up fighting Deer. While Fox tried as hard as he could, not to hurt them, Deer just plain out refused to do anything too "troublesome" as he put it. The pineapple-headed guard resorted to paralyze his opponents for a few minutes, or make them move a kunai to their throat. Then he would say "Dead!" and the whole fight would be over. No bad injuries ever came from fighting him.

Then again, he could've been ordered to take this more seriously…

Harry continued to wonder for another moment, but was unable to finish his thoughts as he was nudged by Malfoy's elbow gently. The fight was about to begin. The bells jingled again in Kakashi's hand as he stared down at the students infront of him. He was smiling behind his mask, everyone knew. One last, analytical glance around the meadow told the raven-haired Hogwarts student that Dean, and Seamus would both be fighting Raven- poor guys- while Lee, the best friend of the Weasley-twins only had to go up gainst Fox. The other D.A. members who were fifth-years seemed to be mostly involved in fighting over which team would go first, none of them fortunately infront of the bluish-haired boy.

Well, except for the aforementioned Dean and Seamus.

Poor guys, indeed.

(Later)

"That was the worst test I've ever taken!" Ron muttered, too tired to yell in frustration.

Harry nodded in agreement. Fighting Wolf, even with the small cue Lynx had given him, had been a loosing battle, but that had been obvious from the beginning. Coming at him from his left had somehow worked the first few minutes, as Earnie had actually gotten a finger to touch one of the bells, before being thrown across the field. Then, obviously, the silver-haired guard had noticed their tactics. He had turned his head in the pink-haired girl's direction, making everybody very aware of the fact that he **knew**, before starting to guard his left side rather tightly. Trying to get him from behind hadn't worked either, because of his sensitive nose and ears as Cat had later told them. When Harry had asked how they could've gotten so close to his left side, then, she had answered that he had probably blocked his own senses as much as he could, thinking he wouldn't need them. Not to mention that (Ex-)Professor Trelawney had been brought outside by Parvati, and Lavender that day, so he had had to do something about his nose.

In the end, they hadn't gotten the bells, but at least _almost_- even if with a little help. Harry just hoped Wolf wouldn't be too mad at their pink-haired friend, and still count their fight. His team held absolutely no desire to take the test again!

Ever.

"I can't even feel my muscles ache anymore!"

"That's because Cat healed them, Ronald," Hermione told him. "There is nothing that could make them ache anymore."

"Oh…yeah…" Ron smiled sheepishly. "I'm still dead-tired, though."

"Yeah, well, we have tomorrow off. The exams don't start until Monday again," Harry said, relief washing all over him at the thought.

**333333333333333333333333333**

The rest of the exams weren't nearly as bad. There were only a few left. Care for Magical Creatures for once, and Astronomy. Harry had vowed to himself that he would pass the first for Hagrid, who had been watching them with a pale face from his cottage. The latter was a little bit more difficult, and Harry wasn't sure if he had gotten all the moons of Jupiter right, but at least he was sure that on none of them lived mice. For obvious reasons they'd have to wait until the evening for their practical exam, so instead they had Divination. Harry knew he was horrible in this subject, but Fox's snickering throughout the whole ordeal did not help lighten his mood. Not that he really cared about whether he passed or not, but being laughed at from behind a mask, and a clenched fist wasn't very pleasant either.

Ron, and him agreed that it was a good thing as they wouldn't have to listen to their horoscope even if it screamed at them to _die, already_!

At eleven o'clock the students arrived at the Astronomy Tower. The night was clear, perfect for a little star-gazing. Everything was basked in the silvery light of the moon, and a slight cold hung in the air. Everyone set their equipment up, and began to fill their bare chart once Professor Marchbanks gave the sign. Professor Marchbanks, and Professor Tofty walked up and down the rows of students, sometimes stopping to look over a shoulder for a minute. Kakashi, who was guarding them at the moment, did a little more. He took a glance at a students chart, and coughed a little when he found something out of order. He didn't tell them the correct response, but he didn't leave them ignorant either. Half an hour passed in silence, except for the constand scraping of quills against parchment, then an hour, and everything went dark as the lights were turned off within the castle. Just as Harry was filling his chart, where the constallation of Orion was concerned, the portals of the castle were opened, and Harry saw five or six long shadows walking down the stairs, before the meadow became dark again.

"I don't like this," he suddenly heard Wolf murmur beside him. The man tapped his ear-piece, his hair shining brightly in the moonlight. "Cat, here's Wolf. Something's off on the grounds. I think hikigaeru is plotting something. Take a look, would you."

The radio cracked as the answer came.

"I'm in the Astronomy Tower watching over the kids' test-" Professor Tofty huffed a little, and made "ssh"-noise, but Kakashi paid him no mind. "Okay, be careful."

Then, everything went silent again.

Until there was a loud 'BANG' from the schoolgrounds, that is. Hagrid's door had been opened. The man himself stood infront of the cottage now, yelling, and gesturing wildly. Six people were surrounding him, shooting thin rays of red light at him, as they all tried to stun him.

"No!" Hermione screeched as she set eyes upon the scene.

"My dear, this is an exam!" Professor Tofty huffed again.

"Forget the exam, that's an attack," Wolf barked at him. He tapped his radio once more. "Cat, you need to hurry."

Nobody was working on their charts anymore. More, and more red lights could be seen flying through the air, but they just seemed to roll of of Hagrid for some reason. He was still standing, shouting, and fighting for all Harry could see. One of the six people tried to reason with him, but it was futile. Hagrid had his mind set on getting away. Fang was jumping the wizards time and again to protect his friend, until one stunning spell brought him down. Hagrid howled at that, and sent the man responsible flying several feet through the air. Hermione had pressed her hands over her mouth, and even Ron seemed more than a little shocked.

Wolf pushed both of them aside.

"Sorry, but I need the space," he told them, jumping onto the parapet, and taking out a scroll from nowhere. Harry noticed that the envelop was pitch-black, and a feeling of dread flooded his body, and made his insides churn. His scar even tingled a little… Every other scroll they had seen so far had been in a green envelop, so why was this one black? What terrible secret, what weapon could this scroll be keeping that it was covered up in such an eerie colour? Harry watched as the silver-haired male brought a thumb underneath his mask, and to his mouth, knowing that the guard was biting down on it. He then saw said thumb travel along the side of the scroll where the inscribtion was, painting it with his blood. He rolled up the scroll, and slowly went through the hand seals as if he himself wasn't sure what to do.

Or maybe he was hoping that he didn't have to?

It was then that the doors to the entrance hall opened again to reveal two more shadows. The students heard a relieved sigh from their side, and saw Wolf pocketing the scroll again with a tension in his shoulders.

"You only have sixteen more minutes!" Tofty told them, but the students ignored the professor, instead watching the continuing fight infront of Hagrid's cottage.

"How dare you!" the person joining just now yelled at them. "How dare you!"

"It's McGonnagall!" Hermione whispered.

"Leave him be!" Professor McGonnagall shouted at them. "What gives you the right to attack him?!? He didn't do anything that would-"

Hermione, Parvati, and Lavender shrieked. Those people at the cottage had fired no less than four stunning curses at the elder woman. Professor Tofty was highly indignant at the lack of warning, and forgot completely that they were holding an exam. The students watched in horror as the red flashes of light moved towards their professor. When they were just a few feet away, a big blue ball appeared, and a shout of "Kaiten!" could be heard, and the stunning spells broke into a nicely red set of fireworks.

"How dare you, cowards?" Cat's angry hiss could be heard clearly throughout the lands as she moved with a puff of smoke from McGonnagall's side to a position between Hagrid, and his agressors. "Against an elderly woman, and with no warning… Well, if you want to play it that way…"

"Oh, this is going to be funny." Kakashi chuckled.

Everyone watched as the brown-haired woman lowered into fighting stance, a green circle filled with strange symbols appearing around her. The female ANBU shouted something in japanese again, before attacking the shocked wizards with her bare hands. Each of them was hit quite a few times, and stood strangely still for a few seconds. When they were finally able to move again, they tried to stun the kunoichi, but nothing came out of their wands. At that point, she had them flee from her, tails between their legs, with just one furious growl, and an indication towards the castle's gates, where the other ANBU had just appeared.

Lynx cracked her knuckles, and punched the staircase once in frustration at being too late.

Needless to say, the staircase was no more.

**3333333333333333333333333**

During his written exam in History of Magic, the ANBU used a genjutsu as it would look a little strange if Sasuke walked up to the brat, and hypnotized him while everyone was watching. So, instead they used a hallucinatory technigue, and went to pull at his last string. They showed him Sirius, in the hands of Lord Voldemort. They knew that, after this, he would crack. After this, he would go straight to the Ministry of Magic. Their little plan would finally work out!

But of course, nothing was this simple!

His friends convinced him on checking if Sirius really wasn't at Grimmauld Place anymore, and so they plotted to use the fireplace in Umbridge's office to call on Sirius. Of course, that wouldn't work out. He talked to Kreacher, instead of Sirius, alright. He then completely believed that his godfather was in the hands of Voldemort, but unfortunately, though obvious in the guards' minds, Umbridge found him before he could get out of her office again. The Inquisitorial Squad took his wand, as well as those of his friends, before she called on Professor Snape to get some verita serum to question Potter. Snape didn't have anything left, or at least that's what he told her, so instead Umbridge decided she'd resort to the Cruciatus-curse, admitting although that the dementors' attack on Harry had been her doing.

She was just about to use the unforgiveable curse, when-

"Harry, we have to tell her… please…" Hermione screeched.

"Never!" Harry shouted back.

"We have to, Harry! She'll get it out of you, anyway. So, where's the sense…"

'_This is worse than a soap opera!'_ Neji, and Sayuri thought, and rolled their eyes while watching and referring what was happening in Umbridge's office to their comrades.

"Very well," Umbridge spoke up triumphantly. "Then, talk!"

"Er-mio-nee-noo!" Ron called over to her through the cloth covering his mouth. Ginny stared at the bushy-haired girl as if this was the first time she saw her. Even Neville, who was in this whole mess by accident, looked at her, his eyes big. Harry, on the other hand, had just noticed that, though sobbing into her hands, there were no traces of tears on Hermione. She was working on a plan, it seemed.

"I'm sorry, everyone! But…I- I don't… I can't stand it anymore…"

'_Now she's overdoing it a little.'_

"Well, whom did Potter want to talk to?" Umbridge asked impatiently.

"Professor Dumbledore."

While Hermione told the Toad-woman one lie after another, the rest of their little group stopped struggling for a few minutes, surprised at this news. Fortunately for them, Umbridge, and her little helpers were so focused on the Griffindor's bookworm that they didn't notice this traitorous behaviour. Meanwhile, everyone was rather taken aback to hear that Dumbledore had had his students working on a weapon, one they hid in the Forbidden Forest. It wasn't long before Umbridge took Harry, and Hermione straight into that very forest to go take a look at the weapon.

Neji, and his aunt deactivated their bloodline limit.

"This is troublesome." And for once, it wasn't Shikamaru who said that.

"I agree with Neji. This did not go as smoothly as we had hoped," said pineapple-headed ANBU added. "How are they going to get them to the ministry now?"

"I can tell that Hermione is improvising, and she isn't even half bad at it. But they need to get away from that woman fast, or the plan is going to crumble infront of our eyes," Sayuri said tiredly. "Any ideas?"

"…"

"… I think I might just know someone that could help us. Unfortunately, if he knows he's helping us, he won't do it. He kinda hates humans…" Sakura said thoughtfully.

"You mean the centaurs, don't you?" Sasuke inquired.

"Yeah. We practically need to slip to them that there are humans in 'their' forest without letting them know it's us who told them."

"No, I think they should know it's us."

Everyone turned to Naruto.

"We can just tell them we lost our protegé within the forest or something… They'll go looking for the human that invaded their territory, or at least some of them will, while the others try to deal with us. Then, all we'd need to do, is knock them out."

The other ANBU were speechless.

"What?!?" Naruto shouted, hurt. "Can't I have a good idea once in a while, too?"

"Of course," they answered at once.

"…Let's- and I can't believe the words are coming out of my mouth- do it his way!" Kakashi then decided. "And then, we'll head to the Department of Mysteries."

**33333333333333333333**

(About ten minutes later)

"Not so loud, Hermione," Harry whispered as they walked ahead of the Toad-woman through the woods. "In here, who-knows-what could hear you, and come find us."

"That's what I hope for actually," Hermione replied, less concerned, though her voice still a little shaky. They walked farther, and farther into the forest. Less, and less sunlight reached them from between the branches, and then it became dark. Harry felt as if someone was watching them, and the fact that Hermione led them even deeper into the forest didn't placate his mind at all.

"How far is it?"

"Not very far anymore," Hermione told Umbridge. "Just a little further into-"

An arrow flew through the air, and embedded itself into the trunk of a tree just above her head. Suddenly, the loud thuds of hoofes could be heard, closing in on their little group, making a small earthquake run through the ground. Umbridge screeched, and held Harry infront of herself as if he were a shield. He struggled free, not wanting to be touched by this insufferable woman, only to find about fifty centaurs pointing their weapons at them. With small whimpers from Umridge accompanying them, they shifted to the center of the clearing. Harry wondered for a moment where the guards were. They had never left his side before, but since his History of Magic exam they had not been seen.

"Who are you?" a centaur, Harry recognized as Magorian from Lynx's tales, asked.

"Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretry of the Minister of Magic, and Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"You belong to the Ministry?" Magorian asked, and Harry noticed how a few centaurs shifted.

"Yes, so be very careful. By law every attack on a human being by halfbloods like you-"

"What did you call us?" another centaur, Bane, shouted, his voice dangerous.

"You must not call them that!" Hermione spoke up, indignant, but Umbridge didn't seem to listen as she continued to quote the law. Soon enough, the Toad-woman had insulted them so deeply, another arrow flew by, brushing the professor's grey hair. The woman screeched, raising her hands to her hair in fright, while some of the centaurs roared appreciatively. Their wild luaghter carried over the clearing.

But even then, in that situation, a Dolores Umbridge did not learn.

"Filthy half-breeds!"

"No! Be quiet!" Hermione shouted at her, but it was already too late. Umbridge pointed her wand at Magorian, and barked "Incarcerus". Ropes flew from the point of her wand, and wrapped themselves around the centaur, tieing hemselves around his arms, and legs,and neck slowly suffocating him. At that point, the other centaurs attacked. Harry grabbed Hermione, and threw both of them into the dirt. Horror grasped his heart as the thunder of the centaurs' hoofs could be heard over them. Then Umbridge's voice shouted "Noooo!" in pure panic as she was dragged away. Harry noticed a flash of red, and raised his head. Bane was holding Umbridge by the back of his neck, her wand falling from her hands. Just as Harry was about to grab it, the hoof of a centaur split it into two.

"Well?" the creature asked, yanking both of them up. "What about these?"

"They're young," a tired, sad voice said behind them. "We do not harm foals."

"They've brought this woman here, Ronan!"

"Please," Hermione spoke up. "We don't think the way that woman does. We do not belong with the Ministry. We only came here, hoping you would chase her away for us."

"So, you wanted us to be at your services. Chase away your enemies like good dogs? Just like _them_!" the centaur roared.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. We just hoped that you would help us!" Hermione squeaked, although not knowing who 'them' were.

"We do not help humans! We're a proud race, and we will not let you spread around that we served you!" the centaur barked, gripping Harry tighter.

"We won't say anything like that!" Harry tried to calm them down, but nobody was listening to him. They were discussing whether or not they would harm them, when suddenly a loud 'CRACK' resounded through the clearing. Everyone's heads turned towards the noise, and for a moment the centaur loosened their grip on the Hogwarts students. It was all it took for Harry to grab Hermione's hand, and run up the trunk of the nearest tree, until they were high enough so that the centaurs wouldn't be able to reach them- with their hands, at least. Moving hastily from one branch to another, they didn't wait to see Hagrid's little brother they had been told so much about, as he screamed "WHERE HAGGER? GRAWP WANNA HAGGER!" all over the place, and was attacked by the centaurs. Not did they wait to see what would happen to either sides, though Hermione was a little concerned.

During their little journey over the tree-tops, they almost collided with Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. All of them looked a little roughed up, bot nothing to bad. A little scratch here, a dark bruise there. Nothing to worry about. At the moment, anyway. When they had landed on firm ground again, Ron gave the other two members of Hogwarts' Golden Trio their wands, and asked, if anyone got any ideas.

"How did you get away?" Harry shot right back.

"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice Impediment Jinx," said Ron airily, now handing back Hermione's wand too. "But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy -- Bat Bogey Hex -- it was superb, his whole face was covered in great flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"

"She got carried away," said Harry, "by a herd of centaurs."

"And you were left behind?" Ginny asked, uncertain.

"No, we escaped when Grawp showed up. Wolf was right: This tree-hopping really is useful!" Hermione replied, sighing.

"Who's Grawp?" Luna asked.

"Hagrid's little brother," Ron answered immediately. "Which is not really important now. So, Harry, does You-Know-Who have Sirius?"

"Yeah," Harry said as his scar started burning, "and I'm sure Sirius life is in danger, but I don't know how to get there in time."

"We'll just have to fly," Luna said, pointing to the other end of the clearing, where Harry could see a thestrale standing. He wanted to argue that he wouldn't put them into danger, because this was his problem, but the others weren't even going to give him a chance at keeping them away. They talked about the D.A., and why they have been training so hard, about what he did when he was younger, and about the friendship that united them. In the end, Harry could do nothing but give in, and help them onto their thestrales. More of them had come by, attracted by the scent of the fight between the centaurs, and the giant.

His hands grasping the main tightly, Harry leaned forward, and whispered:

"Ministry of Magic, London."

**End of chapter 21!**

**A/N: I had to stick with the original plot a bit here, and will have to do so at the beginning of the next chapter as well. Just thought I'd warn you. In the next chapter, we will finally unmask the ANBUs real plan! Muhahahaha! Please review!**


	22. To the Rescue

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**Chapter 22: To the Rescue… **

"Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood…" Harry said quickly into the receiver of the Ministry's visitor's entrance. "…we are here to rescue someone, unless the Ministry can do that before us!"

"Thank you," replied the voice of a woman coolly. "Visitors, please take the badgets, and note that your wands will be controlled in the Entrance Hall."

"Very well," Harry grunted, frustrated as he took the badge. 'Harry Potter, Rescue Mission' it said. "Can we come in now?"

The ground below them started to tremble, and the sidewalk slid up along the windows of the phone box. The thestrals that were apparently looking for something to eat disappeared, and darkness encompassed the little group until they noticed a small golden ray shine onto their feet. It got wider, bigger as they sank deeper underground, and into the Ministry's Entrance Hall. Harry kneeled within the phone box, and kept his wand as ready as it was possible in their circumstances, while looking around the hall to see if there was anyone waiting for them.

It was empty.

"Why is no one here?" Hermione asked. "It's evening now, but not late enough for no one to work anymore."

"Yeah, shouldn't there at least be some security?" Ron added, frowning.

"…Follow me," Harry said silently, and moved to the elevators on the other side. He, too, found it odd that everything was so… abandoned. As they passed the desk of the security officer who had inspected Harry's wand when he came here for his hearing, the Boy-Who-Lived couldn't surpress a gulp. There was no one there, either. It was a bad omen, Harry could've sworn. As the elevator moved down, his bad feeling only increased. They hadn't met anyone so far, and the Ministry was oddly silent. Except for the loud noises of the elevator which should've attracted the security officers in the whole building. However, once they reached their destination all they found was another empty hallway. The only movement came from the flickering of the torches.

Harry quickly moved to a simple black door. After months of dreaming about it, he was finally here.

"Let's go," the raven-haired boy whispered, opening the door. He didn't want to take them with him, but he didn't have much of a choice now. The group entered a round room, finding only more doors that all looked the same. Simple, and black. The black walls were illuminated by candles with blue flames that had been placed in between the different doors. "Someone close the door, please."

As soon as Neville did, Harry cursed under his breath. Without the light from the torches in the hallway, the room went dark. So dark that all they could see for a moment was a bundle of blue lights along the walls, and their eerie reflections on the floor that made everything look like it was underwater. In his dream, Harry would always go straight to the door on the opposite side of the entrance, but here were about a dozen doors. Just as he was scrutinizing the door infront of him, trying to decide which one he should pick, a loud, blustering sound filled the room, and the walls started to spin. To spin so fast the blue flames looked like one streak for a few seconds.

Then, it was over.

"What was that?" Ron asked, fearful.

"I think that was, so that we wouldn't know which door we took to get inside," Ginny explained in a dull tone. "Oh, I wish some of the guards were here. They could probably tell without much trouble."

"Definitely," her brother agreed.

"Yeah…" Harry said, not very convinced. Something had been off with the guards lately, but this wasn't the moment to think about this. Neville was asking how they would get out again, but Harry informed him that that wasn't so important until they found Sirius. Which brought the other problem up in his mind again. Which door to chose? Realizing that it could be any of them, he decided they should just try one at a time. Opening the first, they found some sort of aquarium in it with long, worm-like things.

"What are those?" Ron whispered.

"No idea," Harry answered immediately.

"Are those fishes?"

"No, they are…" Luna started out in a fascinated tone of voice, but was interrupted by Hermione.

"Brains," the bushy-haired girl deadpanned.

"Brains?" the others asked, incredolously.

"Yes… I wonder what they're doing with those, here."

But Harry, though acknowledging that they were indeed brains, once he had gotten a closer look, was not interested to know that in the last. They were here to safe Sirius, not to discover the secrets of the Department of Mysteries. Though there were doors in this room as well, Harry knew it couldn't be one of them. He always went straight through one in the round room, and didn't walk through another office of the department. Luna was just about to close the door, when Hermione stopped her. Griffindor's bookworm pointed her wand at the door.

"Flagrate," she said, and made a sign in the air. An 'X' appeared on the door, just as the room started to spin again. This time, however, there was one warm, red light in the sea of blue flames, and once the room stopped again, the 'X' was still there, indicating them which room they had already looked into to.

"Perfect," Harry whispered. "Okay, let's try the next."

He opened another door, wand raised, ready to fight. This room was much larger than the last, and in it's middle they found a hollow. The group was standing on the upper end of what seemed like stone benches that could be seen throughout the whole room. It looked almost like an amphitheater, or like the room in which he has had his hearing. Instead of a chair, though, there was a giant arch of stone in the middle of the hollow. It looked so old, almost crumbling that Harry actually wondered how the hell it was still standing. A black curtain fell infront of it that, though the air was completely still, could be seen to move constantly, if only a little. When Harry thought he heard something, he moved closer to the arch. The voice seemed distant, and faint, but there none the less. For a brief moment, Harry thought it was Sirius' voice, and whispered such. He was fascinated by the arch, while Hermione nearly pleaded with him to go, to leave because they weren't right in this room.

"Can nobody else hear it?" Harry asked.

"Nobody is talking, Harry, " Hermione replied urgently.

"But somebody is whispering behind there. Is that you, Ron?"

"I'm here, mate," Ron said from behind him.

"I can here them, too," Luna suddenly spoke up, her voice no more than a whisper. "There are people in there."

"What do you mean 'in there'?" Hermione wanted to know, sounding quite irritated with them. "There is no 'in there', it's just an arch. Harry, come on now."

She grasped his arm, but he refused to relent.

"Harry, we're here to save Sirius, right?"

"Sirius…" Harry repeated. "Yeah…"

Finally his mind started working again.

"Let's go!"

"That's what I've been saying. Come now!" Hermione huffed, grabbed Ginny, and Neville who were staring at the arch as well, and dragged them back into the round room. While answering Harry that she didn't know what it had been, but quessed that it was dangerous, she burned another criss-cross into the door. Once again, the room spun. When it stopped, Harry chose another door to open.

"That's it," he said when he saw the billions of cupboards with the tiny crystall balls on it.

"You said it was row number ninety-seven?" Hermione asked in hushed tones.

"Yes," Harry replied breathlessly, looking at the next cupboards. With the blue light of the candles that were illuminating this room as well, he found a tiny, silvery number. Fifty-three. Looking around some more, they found out they had to go to the right. Readying their wands, they snuck onwards, watching their back time and again. Harry noticed small, by now yellow-ish tags on every crystall ball. Within some of them could be seen a creepy, liquid glow, others were dull, and dark like a blown light bulb. As they passed the rows eighty-four, then eighty-five, Harry listened carefully for any sound of movement, but by now Sirius was probably either tied up, or even unconscious… if not… Harry shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

He would not think that way!

"Ninety-seven!" Hermione announced to them.

They were standing cramped together at the end of the row, and watched the walk beside it. No one was there.

"It's at the very end," Harry informed them. "You can not see it from here."

And so they moved to the other end of the cupboard, but still no one could be seen.

"He has to be here, there's no way he could… he must…"

"Harry," Hermione whispered.

"He's here… close… here…"

"Harry," Hermione said again.

"He could be… Or maybe…"

"Harry?" Hermione queried.

"What?" he barked at her. Couldn't she see that they were close? Couldn't she understand how important this was for him?

"I…I don't think that Sirius is here… or ever was. I think you were tricked."

Harry felt sick. Moving around wildly, he looked for any sign that Sirius had been here, but found nothing. Just as he came back to the group, Ron made him notice something strange. One of the tags on the crystall balls was bearing his name, and 'You-Know-Who'. Frowning, Harry stepped closer to it, a little frightened, but intrigued. The others looked around if they found their names as well, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Harry found himself in a similar state like the one he had been in when they were in the room with the arch. An odd fascination filled him, attraction to the tiny ball humming through his very soul. As if it was calling for him, he moved closer still, hand reaching out to take it. Even after Neville warned him not to touch it, the raven-haired boy couldn't help but take it in his hand. If he had thought that the crystall ball would be cold, he had been wrong. It felt as if it had been laying in the sun for a few hours. However, nothing intresting happened. There was no flash of light, or sparks, or any other magical reaction to his touch.

Until someone spoke up.

"Very well, Potter. Now hand over the Prophecy."

Out of nowhere black, and white shadowy figures appeared, and made it impossible for them to run right or left. Eyes sparkled from behind masks that looked like the face of a skeleton, hoods covering their heads. A dozen glowing wands were raised, and pointed directly to their hearts, but what really made Harry's anger boil was something else. As he turned around to look at Lucius Malfoy, he saw…

"You! We trusted you! And all this time you were working for him!" the Boy-Who-Lived spat into the silver-haired guard's masked face. The seven shinobi were all there, standing around them. Two were holding a chirping ball of lightening in their hands, another two had raised their bluish glowing palms, one was holding up a gloved fist, one held his fingers in a strange seal, and the last was keeping a swirling blue ball of energy in his hands.

"Not all this time. Just about since Christmas," Lucius answered, the only one who wasn't wearing a mask. "Now give me the Prophecy."

"Where is Sirius?"

The Death Eaters laughed.

"I want to know where Sirius is!"

"I want to know where Sirius is!" the woman to his left repeated. She, and the ANBU had moved so close to them that only a few steps separated them from the group of Hogwarts students.

"Really, Potter," Wolf spoke up suddenly, chuckling. "You should learn to distinguish reality from illusion."

He walked closer.

"Don't do anything," Harry murmured to his friends. "Not yet."

"Do you hear him? Do you hear him?!?" the female Death Eater screeched. "Giving the brats orders as if he actually wants to fight us."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Wolf grumbled as he still walked closer until he stood right infront of Harry, the lightning in his hand almost blinding the children. "But haven't I taught you, Harry-kun, not to trust anyone. Appareances deceive."

With that, he crouched infront of the students until he was eye-level with them, so that the Death Eaters weren't able to see his mask. He raised the hand that wasn't holding the lightning ball up to it. Taking his mask in his palm, he slowly slid it to the side, until Harry could make out one smokey grey eye, and a slender silver eyebrow. Harry's green gaze locked with his for no longer than a split-second, but it was more than enough to see the guard wink at him. Of course, since Harry could only see one eye, Wolf could have just briefly closed his eyes, but the Boy-Who-Lived had the distinct feeling that the silver-maned man was winking at him, and some of the trust he had held for the guards came back.

"Give it to me, now, Potter, or we'll use our wands," Lucius warned him.

Wolf's eye creased in what seemed to be a smile.

The guard put his mask back on, and barked one order:

"NOW!"

Before anyone could react, the seven guards had already turned to face the Death Eaters, ramming their various attacks into their bodies, or- in Deer's case- strangling them with his own shadow. The two Death Eaters hit by Eagle and Cat went to the ground, gripping at their chests as if in horrible pain, while their comrades who had experienced either Wolf's and Raven's, or Fox's attack didn't even have a chest anymore. Meanwhile, when Lynx's fist connected with another Death Eaters gut, said man, and the one standing behind him flew several hundred feet back through the room. Of course, once over their shock, the Hogwarts students didn't hesitate a second to take care of the remaining followers of the Dark Lord by aiming the 'reducto-curse' at five different cupboards. All of which bursted into a thousand pieces in the next second. Hundreds of crystall balls were destroyed, and the silence of the room was filled with the voices, and shadows of different figures.

Kakashi took the brief moment of confusion to give another set of orders.

"Lynx, get Pakkun, then take the kids, and get them out of here."

"I can fight!" the pink-haired woman protested.

"I know, but you're our only medic- well, trained medic. We can't risk having you get hurt. Now go!" With that, he turned to his other comrades. "Raven, Fox, you'll-"

But Harry didn't hear the rest, because after a loud 'poof', and a lot of smoke the brown pug stood infront of the young female ANBU, and she proceeded to grab his arm to yank him with her. Shards flew everywhere, groaning, and screams of pain could be heard throughout the hall, while they quickly followed Pakkun out of the room with the Prophecies. Harry could hear the sound of steps behind them, and was pretty sure that a few Death Eaters were able to follow them as the others fought the guards.

"I thought you had sided with Voldemort?" Hermione asked, confused, while still running.

"That was part of the plan," Lynx said.

"What plan?"

"Harry, do we have to do this now?" the young woman asked, obviously irritated with his bad timing.

"Yes!" the whole group of them shouted as they entered the round room.

Sighing, Lynx slammed the door shut infront of another Death Eater's face, and rammed two senbon through the wooden door, and the wall. Hermione quickly signed it with an 'X'. The room started to spin rapidly, and Harry could hear the pink-haired woman mutter something in her native language. As the room stopped, it took Pakkun a moment to get out of his stupor. Meanwhile, they could hear a few angry shouts from behind one of the doors, before one of the Death Eaters reminded the others that there were other ways.

"Pakkun, hurry!" Sakura pleaded.

"This way," the pug replied immediately.

The Cherry Blossom yanked the door open, and motioned for them to leave already. None of them moved.

Sakura groaned.

"In the elevator, okay? In the elevator I'll tell you as much as possible as short as possible, now move!"

Reluctant, Harry hesitated, until he heard steps coming from another room towards them. At that point he didn't even need to scream "RUN!" anymore- which he did, anyway- because his friends had already made a jump for the corridor that led to the elevators. As he excited, Lynx was right behind him, shutting the door behind herself, then jumping out of the way of Hermione's Colloportus-charm. The spell hit the door, it gurgled once, and was sealed. The ANBU nodded at the witch, and directed them towards the elevators again. As the students climbed in, the pink-haired medic cracked her knuckles one more time, before ramming her fist into the wall. It crumbled in a matter of seconds, leaving the hallway completely devastated, and impossible to move through.

Then, she entered the elvator as well, and it proceeded under irritatingly sweet music to the Entrance Hall.

"So?" Harry inquired.

"So," Sakura said, taking a deep breath. "Our allied village got a mission request from Voldemort. Of course, they couldn't accept, and we didn't want to have any other villages accept, so we wrote back that we're all on the verge of war- which is true, by the way- and didn't have any shinobi to spare. We sent Lion's team for a bit of information-gathering, and they found out that Voldemort wanted to corrupt us, if he couldn't hire other shinobi. Sensei thought it best to make him believe we sided with him, under the condition that he must not attack the school anymore, so that the students were safe. In return, we offered to put those dreams into your mind-"

"Wait, then it wasn't me being horrible at occlumency?"

"Uh… nope. That was us putting those dreams inside your head, so that you would eventually believe the one you'd have about Sirius. We hoped that you would come alone, or at least only with Hermione-chan, and Ron-kun, but you brought the others along with you-"

"Not by my own wish. They insisted," Harry defended himself.

Sakura smiled.

"Well, that's nice."

"Huh?"

"Don't you agree that it is nice to have such good friends, who are willing to risk everything for you, and someone they think is a criminal?"

"Uh…" Honestly, Harry had never looked at it from that angle.

"Well, anyway. We decided to pretend we were on this Voldemort-guy's side, so we could better protect everyone."

"So, you never were on his side?" Hermione asked again, just to be sure.

"Not really, no."

The doors of the elevator slid open to reveal the Entrance Hall. Lynx went first, in order to check if there was any danger for them, then waved them outside. The young woman ordered them to stay close together, and even closer to her, before they continued on their way to the exit. A sudden flash of black light could be seen, and there stood Bellatrix Lestrange, mask, and hood ripped from her face. Another flash later, there were more Death Eaters, and the first curses flew through the room. Sakura didn't do so much as blink, but the kids were suddenly in the hands of Voldemort's followers.

Except for Harry.

"And now hand over the Prophecy," Bellatrix snarled. "Or we'll kill your friends."

"Don't give it to them, Harry!" Neville shouted, and was rewarded by a Cruciatus-curse from his parents' tormentor. The chubby boy screamed at the top of his lungs, and wriggled in the hold of the man behind him. The Death Eater let go of him, and Neville fell to the floor whimpering, and crying from the pain.

"Well, Potter, that was nothing compared to what I'm going to do, if you don't give me the Prophecy. Now!" Bellatrix Lestrange informed him.

There was no need to think this through for Harry. Ther was no other possibility. Maybe Lynx could've taken them on, but they had hostages, and there was just no way the pink-haired guard could save them all, if she attacked. Looking down at the chrystall ball one last time, he reached out his hand. Bellatrix Lestrange jumped forward to take it, just as there were loud cracking noises from the fireplaces, and several 'poofs' all around the Entrance Hall.

Five people walked out of green flames: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley!

And four more ANBU appeared as the smoke vanished: Lion, Bear, Swan, and Squirrel!

Harry could hear Lynx sigh in relief.

The Death Eater who had held Neville only minutes before, turned around, but Tonks had already stunned him. Harry didn't wait to see, whether or not the curse would hit. Instead he jumped behind the security desk to his right. The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the arrival of the members of the Order, and the other shinobi, who were casting one curse, or jutsu at them after another. Through the lightening-fast flashes of light of the different curses, and the elemental attacks the guards unleashed, Harry noticed his friends seek shelter behind the fountain, or come crawling towards the desk he was hiding under. With a quick movement, he grabbed Neville, and yanked him behind the wooden table.

"Are you alright?" he asked, knowing that it was a stupid question to ask.

"Yeah," Neville said, trying to sound convincing.

"And the others?"

"I think they are alright. I've seen Lynx moving towards them to take a look."

Harry wanted to ask something else, but found it impossible as something grabbed his throat, and squeezed. A Death Eater had appeared under the desk, and sent Neville flying back a few feet in a second, while continuing to strangle the Boy-Who-Lived. He demanded the Prophecy from Hary. The raven-haired boy looked around, but everyone was occupied with some Death Eater, or other. Sirius was fighting his cousin Bellatrix, Kingsley was actually facing off two of them, Tonks was still aiming curses at the one who had held Neville, and Moody was nowhere to be seen. Lynx, and Swan were both trying to find out whether or not the others had any injuries, while Lion, and Bear were doing their damnest to shelter them from wandering spells, and help the Order at the same time. Apparently, no one was noticing that Harry was about to be killed as he held onto the Prohpecy tightly.

Seeing Neville get up behind the man, Harry quickly threw the chrystall ball at him.

The Death Eater immediately changed objective, and that was all Harry needed to raise his wand, and stun him. The man stumbled as he was hit in the back, falling straight onto Neville who was still struggling to get a good grasp on the Prophecy. The chubby boy fell backwards, the Prophecy flew out of his hand, and broke into dozens of shards against a wall.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Neville apologized.

"It's alright, Neville. Now, let's get out of here."

They crawled along the desk, until it could hide them no more. Risking a glance around the corner, Harry made eyecontact with Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Ron, and motioned for them to move into the fireplaces. The flames were still green, so they could easily use it as an escape route. Grabbing Neville's sleeve, the boys started to run across the hall, dodging several flying curses, or using the Protego-charm to keep themselves safe. When they reached the others, Harry was first dragged into an embrace by Hermione, before Lynx yanked him towards her to examine him.

"There's no time for that. Use the fireplaces to get to Hogwarts," Swan reminded her friend.

"Umbridge-" Ginny started to protest.

"-will know, yes! You'd rather die?" Team Lion's medic asked sarcastically.

"…"

"Then move it. We'll go all together. I'll accompany you- wanted to see that castle anyway," the blonde guard told them, grinning. "Take hold of each other's hands. We move when I give you the sign. Okay?"

"Okay," they chorused silently.

"And Potter, don't you dare try anything funny! You're coming with us!" Ino warned the boy when she noticed the rebellious look in his eyes.

"We won't fit all into those fireplaces-"

"Of course you do," Sakura growled at him. "You just have to snuggle close together, is all. Now shift already!"

And so, Harry was dragged to the closest fireplace by a surprisingly strong, blonde kunoichi. The green flames enveloped him, and he could feel the others' bodies pressing against him, Hermione's hand tightly around his own. He could hear the ANBU medic call out the name of their destination "Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office" when suddenly another shout rang in his ear.

"Avada Kedavra!" cried one Bellatrix Lestrange, pointing her wand at her cousin.

Harry let go of Hermione's hand when he saw the green flash of light break out of the witches wand, and fly towards his godfather…

**3333333333333333333333333**

The wizards, and the ANBU were thrown into a world of spinning green lights in complete and utter darkness, with the exception of a few 'exits' coming into view once in a while. However, they did not even think of stepping out of the system of connected fireplaces, until the spinning had slowed down considerably, and they could make out a heavy wooden desk in a round room, where the walls were overly 'decorated' with moving portraits of great wizards, and witches. With a 'thump' they landed in the fireplace of Dumbledore's office. Shaking their heads to clear their minds a little, they stepped out of the flames, only to be greeted by a myriad of questions being thrown their way by the portraits.

Such as…

"What are you doing here?"

"Where do you come from?"

"Did Dumbledore send you?"

"How did you get in?"

"Who are you?"

"What do you want?"

"Where is Dumbledore?"

"Did he send a message for us?"

"What's going on?"

"Did something happen?"

"Does he want us to do something?"

"Should we-"

One low growl from the irritated guard later, all the portraits had shut up. They had not forgotten the pink-haired woman's threat to them, and though this girl had distinctively blonde hair, her growl didn't sound very encouraging. Once it was finally quiet again, Ino turned to the wizards to usher them out of the fireplace, and more into the room, so she could take a better look at them. It didn't need a genius to realize that the goddamn brat wasn't there, or that something must've happened. Especially with the way all the kids' faces were paler than a ghost, and Hermione looked a little guilty for having let go of Harry, but not guilty enough to apologize.

"What is it?" Ino hissed.

It better be important.

"Sh-shortly b-before we l-left, Bella-bellatrix Lestrange used the… D-death c-cu-curse on… on Sirius," Ginny whimpered, craddling her face in her hands.

Ino sighed.

"I'm sure he is fine," she said sadly.

"How can you say that?!?" Ron burst. "There is no counter-spell for the Death Curse."

"If he was hit, and let me strain this 'if', then he's dead, yes. But Lynx is our best medic, and knows a lot of forbidden jutsu. With one of them, she can bring someone who died shortly before back to life… by giving her own life in exchange. And I know she would, so if you have to feel sad, then feel sad for her."

They couldn't see the guards face, but the blonde's voice betrayed the tears welling up in her eyes. Relieved, and feeling very guilty for it, Ginny moved to pat the guards back as the young woman slumped into Dumbledore's chair, a hand raised to her masked face in desperation. Her body was trembling with the sobs, and tears she tried to surpress. If that man- Sirius- really had died, she knew Sakura wouldn't hesitate to use that jutsu that she had researched after seeing Chiyo-obaa-sama use it to revive Gaara.

And if she did, she would die from it!

'_If only I was there,'_ Ino thought. _'Maybe if two medics performed the jutsu at the same time on the same body, it wouldn't take their lifes away, just…'_

Just what?

Half of their life-energy?

They'd be so exhausted, they'd be in hospital for months!

'_But at least, we would survive- probably,'_ the blonde concluded, determination filling her.

She turned to the kids.

"Promise me you won't leave this office."

Taken aback by her strong tone, the students nodded.

"Say it!" Ino demanded.

"We promise," they said, unsure, but truthful.

"Good. Wait here, until I come back with the others. Don't go outside. As far as I know the office has shut itself from the Toad, so you should be safe from her. But first, and foremost, don't use the fireplace to get back to the Ministry! If you do, then I'll make sure you regret the day your parents met!" she threatened them.

The kids gulped. Ino nodded at them.

Then she stepped into the fireplace.

"Ministry of Magic, Entrance Hall," she stated clearly.

**3333333333333333333333333333**

Harry let go of Hermione's hand when he saw the green flash of light break out of the witches wand, and fly towards his godfather…

Then, something really odd happened. A strange, silvery-grey fog flooded the hall. The fighting pairs, and trios stopped what they were doing to watch. The fog filled the whole room, gliding around the wizards', and ANBUs' calves. At the end of the Entrace Hall another wand-user appeared, all in black robes, but no mask, red eyes widened in surprise- Lord Voldemort! While the wizards wondered about the eerie sight, the ANBU openly panicked. Or at least two of them did. Namely Yamato, and Genma. The two guards started to back away, jumping onto the wall, and looking around frantically. Lynx, who had grabbed Harry to snap "What the hell?!?" at him, stopped dead in her tracks to shift her confused gaze to her two superiors.

"Look," Harry said as if answering. He was indicating at the green flash og light that had been flying mercilessly towards Sirius.

The fog lifted infront of his godfather, and swallowed it.

A long howling sound made the blood in his veins freeze!

And then Harry gasped when he saw the fog stare at Bellatrix with a pair of yellow eyes…

**End of chapter 22!**

**A/N: The ANBUs plan is revealed, Sirius is not-dead because of some strange turn of the events, and Harry didn't make it to Hogwarts... This was the second last chapter of this story, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review!**


	23. Battle's End and a New Beginning

**Hogwarts' ANBU**

**Warnings: Spoilers for the seventh Harry Potter book**

**Chapter 23: Battle's End and a New Beginning**

"Look," Harry said as if answering. He was indicating at the green flash of light that had been flying mercilessly towards Sirius.

The fog lifted infront of his godfather, and swallowed it.

A long howling sound made the blood in his veins freeze!

And then Harry gasped when he saw the fog stare at Bellatrix with a pair of yellow eyes…

"What is that?" he and the pin-haired guard both asked in unision.

"Roku-sama," the small brown pug whispered almost fearfully.

"What is a Roku-sama?" Harry inquired.

"He's a demon."

"A demon? What would he want here?" Sakura queried. Harry wanted to know the exact same thing, but chose to stay silent. Instead, he just watched as the silvery fog continuued to shift, and raise itself above the ground. More eyes stared around the hall, yellow and green ones. Barking and growling filled the Entrance Hall of the Ministry, and the sound of scraping claws over marble. Harry looked back at Pakkun. The dog shook his head as if exasperated by their stupidity. "Pakkun, why would a demon come to this place? And how do you know him?"

"He was summoned."

"Summoned? Like you?" A sinking feeling churned through Sakura's stomach.

"Like that giant toad?" Harry added.

"More or less."

"Explain, now," the young woman demanded.

"You see… Normally summons are like me or Gamabunta- entities. However, there are also some shinobi clans- including Raven's and Eagle's clans by the way- who have a contract with demons, and are thus able to summon these creatures. Demons, you have to know, are, depending on their rank, much more powerful than normal entities. In fact, Roku-sama and his tribe could probably face off Gamabunta as equals, and no matter who would win in the end, they would surely tear some parts of him into a thousand pieces. Good old Gamabunta would most likely never be able to fight again."

"If they are so powerful, shouldn't you be happier to see them?"

Pakkun shook his head frantically.

"Demon summons come with a high price."

Sakura's sinking feeling only grew.

"You don't mean… They take away the person's soul, don't they?"

Pakkun snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous! You shouldn't believe everything they write in human fairytales. Demons can actually be quite gentle creatures… They might just take your life, though, if they stay too long."

There was a burst of green flames and then…

"What THE HELL is that?!?"

"Pakkun was just telling us, Pig. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you stay with the kids?… Whatever. Just be quiet now, so he can finish," Sakura grumbled at her blonde friend.

"You mean there's a time limit?" Harry wondered aloud.

"You could put it that way… Look," he added when he saw their confused expressions. "Lynx, when you summong me, you use some of your chakra to do so, right?" He didn't even wait for her answer, just continuued with his explanation. "Once I'm here, though, I stay out of my own will, and with my own energy. Demon summons are different in that point. No doubt they have more than enough energy to stay with us for longer than any of you mortals will live, even without food and such. But, and that is the major difference to normal summons that makes demon ones so dangerous, part of the bargain is that they feed upon large amounts of your own chakra reserves to stay. Consequently, if they stay too long, they drain too much from you, and you die of chakra depletion."

"And who was stupid enough to summon these beasts then?" Ino snarled.

"Wolf," Lynx deadpanned, the threat in the undertone of her voice clear anough to make everyone back away from her slightly. "The baka!"

She looked back at the fog, which wasn't fog anymore now. Instead there stood five demon hounds in between the wizards, witches and shinobi, and were being stared at by all of them. Even the Dark Lord himself didn't seem capable of tearing his eyes from the beautiful, yet frightening creatures that had dispelled his invisibility charm. The summoned beasts were tall, big enough to ride on them, though Sakura was sure they wouldn't take kindly to the idea. Impossibly soft-looking, silver fur covered their bodies, and swayed a little in a breeze that she could not feel. Sakura felt reminded of their encouter with a Boggart at the HQ of the Order, where the creature turned into something with silver fur when Sayuri faced it. Was this what she had been afraid of, the pink-haired girl asked herself as she watched the demons survey the room. Pairs of clear yellow or green eyes gave the Entrance Hall of the Ministry of Magic one analytic glance each, before settling on a spot near the elevators.

Following their gazes, Sakura, Ino and Harry quickly found the silver-haired guard there with his black scroll in his hands, being held up by the two brown-haired ANBU. The other shinobi stood behind them, carrying the fallen or unconscious Death Eaters, and throwing them together on the floor infront of them. A low growl came from the demon that had swallowed the Death Curse, and it held a strange similarity to the understanding grunt you sometimes got from Kakashi when he was too lazy to open his mouth, and talk to them. In a split-second, the demons had moved from their positions, and drove or dragged the black-clad wizards over to where their comrades had been 'seated' on the ground. Frightened, the Dark Lord's followers didn't do anything to prevent it, and even Voldemort himself seemed wise enough, not to interfere. He just stood there, still fascinated by the foreign sight, but anger already seeping into his facial expression.

"Quick, tie them… up… I'm… not sure, how… much longer I… I can…" Wolf told the aurors (or ex-aurors), Lupin and Sirius, before going limp in Cat's and Eagle's hold.

The wizards quickly bound the Death Eaters together with a charm while the demons dissipated into silvery fog again. Every one of them but the first. His yellow eyes watched the ANBU who had summoned him as he walked over to where the unconscious man was being held up by his comrades. Roku crouched a little to be eye-level with the silver-maned Copy Nin, and sighed, apparently mumbling something like "Reckless whelp!", before brushing his muzzle over the side of the human's masked face in an almost affectionate gesture.

Then, he disappeared as well.

"Damn!" Harry could hear Lion curse, and turned around to him.

"My thought exactly," Bear admitted, sighing.

"What's wrong?" the Boy-Who-Lived asked.

"What's wrong? Wolf's unconscious, Potter, that's what is wrong," the ANBU with the longer brown hair grumbled. "Last time he used that goddamn scroll, he was out like a candle. For almost two months!"

Harry's eyes widened. The silver-haired guard wouldn't wake up for months? That was way past the end of their school year, which meant that they wouldn't be able to even thank him for helping them out so many times. The raven-haired boy felt he owed the guards much for quarding the castle, and helping him talk with Sirius when he needed it, and of course for saving his godfather's life just now. But if Wolf was going to be in coma for the next few months, the guards would've long returned home before he woke up again, and Harry didn't really think he would ever see them again, afterwards. He could, of course, give them a letter to give to Wolf, once he regained consciousness, but that just wasn't the same.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. The scarred boy looked at the end of the hall to see that Voldemort had raised his wand, and all the windows broke into a thousand pieces, assembled themselves behind him. He was ready to attack. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bear and Lion directing all the other wizards towards the nearest fireplaces. A fight ensued as none of them wanted to leave and look like a coward, but the two men just growled menacingly, and shoved them into the green flames if necessary. Meanwhile, Cat and Eagle had handed their silver-haired comrade over to the blonde and the bluish-haired guard, and quickly jumped infront of all of them. Not a second later a myriad of shards poured ddown onto them. Two loud yells of "Kaiten!" could be heard, before both brown-haired shinobi started to spin at a maddening pace. Two blue swirls meshed into one, and extended until it went from one side of the hall to the other, effectively shielding them from being sliced to pieces by broken glass.

Once the attack was over, the both of them fell to their knees.

"They've used up too much of their chakra," Pakkun commented worriedly. "They won't be doing that again… We better think of a solution, fast."

Deer, who had been standing on the sidelines since they arrived in the Entrance Hall, was the first to react.

"Oi, Raven, Fox! Get Wolf out of here," he ordered them. "Cat, Eagle, you two better leave as well. Half-dead you won't be of much use."

His two superiors seemed about ready to protest, but quickly relented after a second thought.

"And take the brat with you, this time," Deer admonished them, and received dirty glances from the other ANBU. "And make sure everyone stays there!"

"I don't think so," Voldemort hissed, and dragged Harry into the middle of the room with a flick of his wand.

"Ahh!" the boy screamed.

"Damn!" Sakura cursed as she failed to grab hold of the black-haired kid. She jumped to her feet again, and stormed over to Harry, but with another flick of his wand, Voldemort sent her flying backwards into the wall. Groaning, the pink-haired medic acknowledged her broken shoulderblade, and ushered Ino to heal her already. The blonde set to work immediately, while continuing to watch as the scene unfolded. The unconscious Copy Nin had elready been handed over to the flames with a clear adress to where he was supposed to come out. Hopefully, the kids would take him out of the fire, once he got there. Naruto and Sasuke quickly followed, under murmured protests. Sayuri and Neji seemed somewhat reluctant to go, what with the new developments. Yamato had made a jump for Harry as well, and, Voldemort being distracted by Sakura, had actually succeeded at getting to him. He placed the young boy behind himself, shielding him somewhat with his body, and was ushering him to retreat further towards the other end of the hall.

"I shall kill you first, then," Voldemort said quietly. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Before anyone could react, the flash of green was already right infront of them. However, the golden statue of a wizard that had been standing in the nearby fountain, had suddenly come to life, and had jumped down from it's pedestal onto the ground between Lion and the Dark Lord. The curse just bounced off of the statue's chest as it extended it's arms to protect the ANBU and Harry at the same time.

"What-" Voldemort shrieked, and turned to look around. When he found what he had been looking for, he whispered only one word: "Dumbledore!"

Harry looked behind him, his heart racing. Dumbledore was just stepping out of one of the fireplaces. Voldemort raised his wand again, pointing at the headmaster (or former, anyway) this time, and another green flash of light broke from it's tip. Dumbledore swirled once, and was gone. He reappeared behind Voldemort, directing his charm at the fountain from which the first statue came. Now the other ones came to life as well, the house-elf hastily making it's way to a fireplace, and disappearing into it, while the centaur and the witch attacked the Dark Lord. Said man disappeared himself, only to stand upon the brink of the fountain in the next second.

The statue of the wizard pushed the Boy-Who-Lived back as Yamato slipped away, bringing his hands together in a quick seal. He made a few wood clones, sending one of them off to get Neji and his aunt to the nearest fireplace, and accompany them back to the castle, and another to do the same for Sakura. The other two clones grabbed a kunai each, and ran towards the red-eyed wizard. A flick of Voldemort's wand, and he had them explode in a puff of smoke. Genma took the opportunity to 'poof' over to Harry, and drag him towards another fireplace to finally get him to the school. Curious, but having achieved his goal, Harry relented without a word of protest, and let himself be led to the green flames.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was desperately trying to get his hands- figuratively- on Voldemort's shadow, in order to paralyze him for the time being. However, with the on-going battle between the two most powerful wizards of the world, and it's disappearing and reappearing nature, he found that to be an almost impossible feat. He had used up a lot of chakra before, and if he didn't get Voldemort soon, he would be completely out of any more to spare. The pineapple-headed boy was a bit torn between just leaving, since he wouldn't be of much use if he didn't succeed in a short amount of time, and the troublesomeness of being berated for just leaving a battlefield, once this was over with- and again when Wolf finally woke up in who-knew-how-many months.

Ino didn't have this problem, as she was the only medic left, and had to stay with the team. She was worried, though, because she hadn't seen Sai in quite some time. Wherever could the ink-user have gone to at such a crucial point of the battle? Maybe Dumbledore had sent him to get help, or something? Or he'd gone with Kakashi? Her questions stopped when the black-haired boy appeared by her side, and whispered something into her ear. Turning to see his masked face, she nodded once in affirmative that she agreed with his hypothesis and counterplan.

"It was silly to come here tonight, Tom," Dumbledore told his former student calmly. "The aurors are already on their way-"

"By which time, I shall be long gone, and you… will be dead," Voldemort tried to taunt him, but the old professor remained unperturbed.

Instead of answering, Dumbledore gave the slightest flick of his wand. Harry, who had been about to be shoved into the flames by a disgruntled Bear, felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand to attention at the sheer power of the spell that had just been cast. By the way the brown-haired guard stopped in mid-motion, he seemed to have noticed it, too. Turning ever so slightly to see what was happening, they both gasped a little as the Dark Lord had to summon a silver shield to repell the attack. The spell didn't seem to damage this shield in any physical way, but made it shake and tremble, the sound of one deep jingle of a big bell filling the room. The noise held something dark and dangerous. So much it made both, the student and the shinobi, shudder.

"You don't intend to kill me, Dumbledore?" Voldemort yelled at the other wizard, red eyes narrowing. "You stand above such brutality, do you not?"

"We both know there are other ways to break a man, Tom, " Dumbledore replied smoothily, moving towards the Snake-Face at an unhurried pace. "I'll admit that just taking your life, would not be enough for me-"

"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" the red-eyed man hissed at him.

"Baka!" the remaining guards all mumbled in unision.

"You're wrong," Dumbledore retorted, still closing in on the Dark Lord as if they were long-time friends, and discussing this over dinner. Harry was frightened to see Dumbledore walk so casually through a battlefield, without any protection. The ANBU were standing on the sidelines, watching, waiting, not interfering. For whatever reason, they didn't seem to be the least bit concerned to step in, and protect their client. "Your incapacity to understand that there are things far worse than death has always been your greatest weakness."

A green flash of light was shot at him from behind the silver shield, but the golden centaur came to shield him.

Dumbledore flicked his wand like a whip, and a small line of flames broke from it, enveloping both Voldemort and his shield. For a moment it looked like Hogwarts' most famous headmaster had won, but then the flames changed their form to become a snake. It let go of Voldemort, and raised itself to attack Dumbledore. Meanwhile the Dark Lord changed his position to one behind Dumbledore, and was about to charge another Death Curse at him when he was paralyzed. A quick glance around told Dumbledore that Shikamaru had finally been able to grip onto Voldemort's shadow, but would be unable to keep him much longer. Using the water of the fountain to put out the flames, he nodded for the guard to let the Dark Lord go, and get himself to safety. Shikamaru didn't need to be told twice as he had already positioned himself next to the fireplace, and disappeared in it, before retreating his shadow. Voldemort wasn't given the time to spin around, and curse him, because Dumbledore had already converted the steam back into water, and enclosed the red-eyed wizard in it. A few seconds later Voldemort disappeared.

The guard seemed to have gotten his senses back when he saw Deer jump into the fire, and finally shoved Harry all the way into the flames. At that point, though, it was already too late. A burning pain made itself known in his scar, dancing in wave upon wave of agony over his entire body.

"If death is meaningless, kill the boy," he heard himself say, but it was not him.

It was Voldemort.

"There goes our plan…" was the last thing Harry heard Squirrel grumble.

3333333333333333333333333333333333333

_(In Harry's mind)_

The Boy-Who-Lived was trapped in his own subconscious, standing infront of the memory he had of the mirror Erised (the one in the first book). The mirrir wasn't showing him his parents, though. He wasn't showing anything the raven-haired boy desired at all. Because on the other side of the mirror was Lord Voldemort himself, smirking at him, taunting him as he spoke the words. As he taunted Dumbledore, and the guards who had all risked their lifes for him.

"If death is meaningless, kill the boy," Voldemort said, winking at Harry.

"Kill me now, Dumbledore…" he continued.

'Make the pain go away,' Harry thought, and it resounded in his mind.

Voldemort's smirk grew.

"Do it, Dumbledore!" the Dark Lord demanded.

'Allow… that he kills us,' Harry thought.

"What are you waiting for?"

'… put an end to this, Dumbledore…'

"I thought death was nothing, Dumbledore."

'Death is nothing compared to this… this pain…' Harry decided.

"DO IT!" Voldemort yelled at Dumbledore with Harry's voice.

'And I'll see my parents again,' Harry reminded himself.

Feelings rushed through him at that thought, and the grip Voldemort had one him dminished. Not enough to break him away comepletely, but at least the pain was gone. It would be a painless death. For that, at least, Harry was grateful. He wanted Dumbledore to kill him, kill them. If Dumbledore killed him now, while Voldemort was in his body, the Dark Lord would die with him, and no one else would have to suffer because of him again.

"**Giving up so easily, Potter?"** a third voice inquired.

Looking up, he saw that someone else had appeared within the confines of his mind. A hand on his shoulder showed him that the new visitor was with him, , though her reflection could be seen in the mirror as well. It was one of the guards. The blonde one. The female blonde. The medic. Swan. She stood behind him, her hand squeezing his shoulder in an encouraging manner.

"**Do you really want to die already?"**

'…No,' he thought. 'But if he will die with me-'

"**He won't… Now tell me, do you want to live?"**

'…Yes!'

Swan nodded.

"**Then let's get **_him_** out of here,"** she said grimly.

And without another word, she punched the mirror.

**33333333333333333333333333**

"Are you alright, Harry?"

The raven-haired boy found himself lying on the floor, his glasses missing, so that he was barely able to see anything. He could, however, make out the slumped body of the blonde ANBU, being held up only by Squirrel's arms around her. The girl suddenly jerked when she got back from his mind into her own. Next, he noticed several voices that did not belong to the guards, or Dumbledore. Someone put his glasses over Harry's eyes, Lion it turned out to be, and finally the scarred boy noticed all the people standing in the Entrance Hall of the Ministry, including the still tied-up Death Eaters, and one very baffled Cornelius Fudge.

"Harry?" Dumbledore inquired again.

"Huh?… Oh, yeah. I'm fine," he said, turning to Swan. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, but we share the seven years of bad luck evenly," the blonde joked back.

Harry didn't mind at all, as long as everyone was safe.

"I saw him, Minister," a man in a scarlet cape yelled. "You-Know-Who! I saw him with my own eyes, Mr. Fudge."

"I know, Williamson, I know. I saw him as well," Fudge, who was still wearing his pajamas, stuttered back and gasped. "By Merlin's beard – here – **here**! – In the Ministry of Magic – Dear Heavens – I can hardly believe it – how could this happen – and Death Eaters – Dumbledore, you – here – what – I – I – "

"Cornerlius, I'm ready to fight against all your men, and win again," Dumbledore replied as some of the aurors were raising their wands, "but just a few minutes ago you saw the proof that Lord Voldemort is back as I have been telling you for the past year. You have chased the wrong man for the past twelve months, now, please, will you listen to reason."

"I… well…Dawlish, Williamson, get these people to Azkaban… Dumbledore, you'll tell me exactly what happened here – "

Harry didn't here anything else of this conversation, because this time Bear really did drag him to the fireplace, and accopanied him back to Hogwarts, where his friends, and the other guards were already waiting impatiently for him. As soon as he stepped out of the green flames and into Dumbledore's office, he was yanked over to Lynx, so she could check him for any injuries again. Right after him and Bear, came Swan, Squirrel, and Lion. Dumbledore followed half an hour later, and decided to finally unravel the mystery of why he hadn't even looked at Harry this whole year after sending everyone else off to the infirmary. The poor boy had been mad at the headmaster, but couldn't hold on to that grudge for very long as he was told about the content of the Prophecy, and why Dumbledore hadn't told him sooner.

Harry was doomed to either kill Voldemort, or die by his hand!

And Dumledore hadn't told him sooner, because he cared too much about Harry.

The Boy-Who-Lived felt numb when the headmaster dismissed him, a single tear falling into his silver beard. Harry did not know what to think. Kreacher had betrayed Sirius, and made sure Harry would go to the Ministry. Sirius had never treated the house-elf right, so maybe it was his own fault, a bit at least. Dumbledore had given him to the Dursleys in the first place, because Petunia was his only living blood-relative (technically, Dudley was now, too), and her blood would make Voldemort unable to do anything to him in their home. And he hadn't become Prefect, because Dumbledore thought that he had already enough problems as it was.

The thoughts were jumbled in his head, popping up, and disappearing into the back of his mind again.

It was already day by the time, he finally left Dumbledore's office, and arrived in the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey grabbed him, and tucked him in immediately. He was grasped by slumber the moment his head hit the pillow, and didn't awake for another three days. His friends were already up when he finally made it back to consciousness.

On the beds beside him were Hermione, and Ron. Further away were Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Sirius, and on the opposite side lay Wolf, unmoving. Hermione was reading a newspaper-article to them, surprised at how fast the Ministry had published the knowledge of Voldemort's return.

"Ha! But now you're the Boy-Who-Lived again, and not some crazy maniac looking for acknowledgement anymore," Fox cheered. He was sitting at the end of Harry's bed, the bluish-haired Raven leaning against it beside him, while their pink-haired comrade patched them up after their latest 'argument'. Eagle and Deer had already seated themselves with a game of wizard chess infront of them, Swan was giving Umbridge a sceptical once-over as the woman was sleeping in her bed, and Squirrel was drawing the whole scene from where he stood at the door. Meanwhile, Bear was currently talking to Lion about something or other, while shaking his head in the direction of their silver-haired friend. Narrowing his eyes and glancing over, Harry could make out a second person laying on the bed, curled into the man's body, and quickly recognized it to be Cat.

Blushing, Harry resumed listening to Hermione as she told him, how they were flattering him in the article now.

" 'A lonely voice of truth… made out to be manic, and unstable, he still insisted on the truthfulness of his version of the story… forced to endure scorn and slander…' Hmm, they never stop to mention that it was them who scorned you, though," Hermione said, huffing. "Well, at least they're telling the truth now. And the interview, they're so proud of, isn't theirs. It's the one that appeared in the Quibbler months ago."

"Daddy sold it to them," Luna admitted from her bed. "It's why we are going to travel to Sweden this summer. Maybe we'll find some Crumple-Horned Snorcack…"

Hermione seemed to fight with herself for a moment, but in the end she just said:

"Sounds like fun."

Fox ruffled the bookworm's hair in appreciation.

Hermione giggled slightly.

"By the way," she said, "what has happened in school. Madam Pomfrey won't let us go."

"Flitwick-san has erased Fred-san's, and George-san's swamp," Sai said, walking over to them after finishing his artwork, and handing it over to the students and guards for an opinion. "But he left a little bit of it, and blocked it off with tows."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"He seems to think it's a 'neat piece of magic'," the emotionless boy answered.

"I think he left it as a memorial for Fred and Geor- Wow!" Ron stopped in mid-sentence as he received the picture from Raven. "This is really good. Look, guys, it's so realistic!"

The other students shifted in their beds to look at the painting, and found it to be, indeed, a miniature copy of their current situation.

"You can keep it," Sai said. "It's a gift for 'Dumbledore's Army'. Your first battle wounds…"

"Thanks," the kids cheered.

"Wow, that's so nice of you, Squirrel."

Everyone turned around.

Wolf was sitting up on his bed- or rather, trying and failing miserably- while everybody stared at him as if he had two heads. Didn't the guards say he would be out for moths to come? What had happened to that? Sakura rushed over to her sensei to check his vitals, and found nothing amiss, except maybe for the slightly erratic beating of his heart, but that may just be, because Sayuri was still leaning her head against his chest.

"Ha! A Pepper-Up Potion has always gotten people back up!" Madam Pomfrey smiled in triumph.

"Hmm. Apparently, combined with the chakra therapy I gave you, it's pretty effective. You haven't even been out for a week," Lynx mused. "I'll let Pomfrey-san give me the recipe."

"I feel horribly weak, though."

"Yeah, well… you've barely had any chakra left, and it's not like I can give you all that much either. I have other patients to take care of, you know," Sakura answered him, indicating with her head at the other two members of the original Team Seven. Wolf nodded, and growled weakly at them, not to strain her so much.

Naruto pointed out that there wasn't much he could do in his state.

"Then just wait, until I'm back to health. You shall experiece 'A Thousand Years Of Death' once more," Kakashi threatened in a breathless voice, but the prospect was enough to send the blonde up to the ceiling.

"Get down from there, young man! This is an infirmary, not a circus!", Madam Pomfrey growled at him, and tried to hit him with a broom.

The other inhabitants of the Hogwarts infirmary laughed maniacally.

**333333333333333333**

They were allowed out of the infirmary only three days to the end the school year, and the only reason Wolf didn't try to get out before was, because he could barely move until that time. Even as he was discharged he still needed crutches, and sometimes a bit of help, but that's what you have friends for. Harry and the others thanked him and the guards profusely for saving them, which the ANBU dismissed with a wave of their hands, saying that it was what they had been hired for. Sirius renewed his offer for Harry to stay with him from now on, since his name had been cleared, and the Boy-Who-Lived was only too happy to accept, though his godfather insisted he say goodbye to the Dursleys.

The guards chuckled as Sirius wished him goodbye to return to the Order.

Umbridge left Hogwarts on the last day before the summer break. Apparently, she had snuck out of the infirmary during dinner time, probably hoping that no one would notice until it was too late, but not counting in Peeves. Seeing that this would be his last possibility to do as Fred had asked him to, he chased her out of the school with immense pleasure, while throwing pieces of chalk at her, or hitting her with a crutch. Many students ran after them, cheering at Umbridge's departure. Professor McGonnagall barely tried to stop her, before letting herself fall back into her seat beside Dumbledore.

Meanwhile at the Griffindor Table…

"I would run after her myself to cheer, but unfortunately Peeves borrowed one of my crutches," Kakashi admitted smugly, which earned him a vice-like group-hug from the majority of 'Dumbledore's Army' that still resided in the Great Hall. He took it like a man, though he was more than grateful when they stopped once he started coughing uncontrollably.

_(The next day)_

Their return home with the train wasn't at all uneventful. First of all, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who had waited for the whole time to be out of the sight of teachers, tried to attack Harry as he just came back from the toilet. It could've worked, if they hadn't unknowingly tried it right infront of a compartment full of DA-members who saw what was happening through the window glass. Once Ernie Macmillian, Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anthony Goldstein, and Terry Boot were done releasing the various spells and curses Harry had taught them, the three wrongdoers looked more akin to giant slugs (no offense intended, Harry thought, in case Lynx's summons were listening) than human beings. It didn't help much either that, apparently hearing all the commotion, said pink-haired medic's head popped out of Harry's compartment, and, assessing the situation, stomped over to punch the three of them down the hallway with a loud shout of "Shannaro!"

"I have to say I'm curious as to how Malfoy's mother will react when they get out of the train," Earnie admitted. He never quite coped with the fact that Malfoy took points from Hufflepuff…

"Goyle's mommy will probably be happy," Ron said as he walked out the door of their compartment behind Lynx. "It's defintely an improvement… By the way, Harry, the snack cart has arrived. If you want something…"

Harry thanked everyone, and moved back to his own compartment with Ron, and the kunoichi on his tail, where he bought enough candy for all of them, and both ANBU Teams. The silver-haired man sitting with them as he could hardly do much else during this ride, thanked him softly, and knocked against the window. A moment later, Bear's masked face appeared as he leant over the side of the train from his position on it's roof. Wolf took the little bag Harry was presenting him with, and handed it over to his brown-haired comrade. The man opened the bag, took a look, and waved in a quiet thanks, before disappearing from sight again. Harry killed the travel time by either playing wizard chess against Ron, and losing, watching Lynx lose against him in the same game, or watching Ron lose against Wolf or Deer (when the latter came by), which was oddly satisfying. Meanwhile Hermione read the newspaper which was full of articles about how to defend yourself from dementors and such.

"It hasn't really started yet," she said when she was done, "but it will soon enough."

The others nodded. For a moment their was an uncomfortable silence, then Kakashi spoke up.

"You know…" he said, facing Cat, who sat beside him, "I always wondered why your name doesn't begin with 'H'…"

"…" She didn't answer anything for a moment, then… "What?"

"Yeah, I mean…" he replied sheepishly, "… almost everyone of your closest relatives has a name that begins with 'H'. Your father, your mother, your brothers, your nieces-"

"My nephew's name doesn't," the woman protested.

"I said, almost. Anyway, why not yours, too?"

Sayuri sighed.

"Actually, I have two first names. It's my mother's doing. She was a little tired of that tradition, but my father insisted, so… I use my second given name, though."

"What is your first given name, then?"

"…Firefly."

"Hey, that doesn't start with 'H'!" Ron huffed.

"The japanese equivalent does," the brown-haired ANBU told him. (Note: Firefly in japanese is 'Hotaru')

When their train arrived in King's Cross it was time to say goodbye to the ANBU. The guards helped them get their suitcases down onto the platform, before announcing that their contract with Dumbledore ended here, and that Moody and the other members of the Order, including Sirius, would wait for him outside. The majority of the students came to say their farewells to the shinobi, some giving them chocolate, or other small gifts. The ANBU humbly accepted, while Genma drew the necessary patterns onto the floor again. However, this time, there was another circle around the square. After being hugged goodbye by almost every student, Kakashi, Sakura, Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Sai moved to stand in the middle, just above the symbol, while Sayuri, Genma, Yamato, and Neji sat down in the spaces between the biggest circle, and the square. Their hands moved together as if praying, they started to mumble a few words in their native language, and the whole pattern glowed in a green light. The guards in the center took that as their last opportunity to wave at the kids, before they disappeared in a flash of green.

However, that was not to be the last time, Harry met Shinobi.

**3333333333333333333**

_(Back at Konoha, Hokage's Office)_

"Ow!"

Kakashi wasn't able to land on his feet, and fell. Sakura, trying to catch him, slipped, and was about to fall as well, when Sasuke caught her arm, and held her up. That, though, did little for the Copy Nin, and he crashed down onto the floor. Blushing furiously, Sakura disentangled herself from Sasuke, and rushed to help her sensei up. Naruto was already by his side, lifting the silver-haired man carefully. Shikamaru and Neji were tackled by two very happy women, both muttering a mock "Troublesome" in unision. Yamato, Ino and Sai just chuckled at them, while Sayuri dusted her pants off, and Genma asked where his wife was.

"In the hospital, Shiranui. Where you should take Hatake right now," a smiling voice said. They all looked up to see the Hokage sitting behind her desk. "You better go see your wife and your son, _daddy_."

The mockery in her tone didn't bother the senbon-sucking shinobi at all as his mind processed the information. The brown-haired man bounced happily, once, before getting a good grip on his silver-maned friend, and 'poofing' straight into ANBU's medical facility. Ino excused herself as well, stating that it would be better if someone told the medics there what Kakashi was 'suffering' of.

Tsunade nodded at her.

"Shikamaru, Neji, you can both go with your 'koi' to resolve your respective clan problems," the honey-eyed woman told the two young men. Both nodded slightly as they lifted Temari and Hinata off of them, in order to stand up. All four bowed once towards the Godaime Hokage, and nodded at their comrades, before walking calmly out of the office. "And from you I want a first report about what has happened."

Sighing, Yamato was about to speak, when Naruto beat him to it.

"Oh, you should've been there, baa-chan! It was so cool! There were these flying black horses, but you could see them only if you had watched someone die… And there was a giant flame-snake this one wizard conjured… and the Toad-woman was so ridiculous… and teme said 'please'… and then there was…"

"Enough," Tsunade stopped him, quickly coming to the conclusion that Naruto was more of a hinderance than a help. Although his enthusiasm was certainly most endearing. "Uzumaki, Uchiha, you may go as well. The compund needs some dusting off, I think. I want your reports in one week, at the very latest."

Sasuke grunted, fully aware that he was dismissed only so that the dobe would go as well. He turned to Sakura before the blonde could drag him outside.

"We'll see us later, then, I guess."

"Huh?" Sakura asked, confused. Then she blushed (not that anyone could see, what with the mask). "Yeah…later."

Before Sasuke was halfway out the door, Tsunade spoke up again, grinning like an idiot.

"Sakura, why don't you help them? It's a big compound, after all. I'll be getting you guys' reports in a week, anyway, and I think Sayuri and Yamato have been on duty long enough to know how to give me a satisfactionary first report."

And she 'shoo'-ed the blushing girl away with her hands.

"Now, what happened?" the Hokage asked as soon as the door closed. Sayuri and Yamato gave each other a glance, before telling the Hokage the most important events in a short version. Neither wanted to stand their for more than a few hours as the Transportation Circle drained their chakra reserves considerably. The Hokage was actually a good listener, hardly interrupting them, unless it was important..

"We accompanied them on the train ride, and left once we reached King's Cross," Sayuri finished for the both of them.

"Very well, that shall be enough for today. Go get some rest," the Fifth told them, but stopped Sayuri once more, before she could completely leave. The seat turned towards the window, the blonde Sannin asked a question that had just popped up in her mind. "Oh, before I forget… Tell me, Sayuri, what did our scarecrow do with the scroll I sent him?"

"He blew it up," the Hyuuga-woman deadpanned.

Tsunade chuckled.

"Did he tell you what it was about?"

"Yes."

"And?"

Sayuri sighed. She was bound to find out, just like everyone else.

"He asked me to marry him. I said 'yes', so I guess you could say that we're engaged."

The seat spun around to reveal a widely grinning Godaime Hokage.

"Then let me be the first to congratulate you!"

"Thanks," Sayuri said. "But are you congratulating us, or yourself that your dirty little trick worked?"

"Both, I guess." Tsunade shrugged. "In any case I can't wait to see what kind of shinobi your rugrats will make."

"I knew it," the other woman muttered as she was sent off.

**3333333333333333333 **

_(21 years later)_

It was already dark when one Harry Potter stood from his seat behind his desk. Not that he could see that, as the Office of Aurors was deep underground, and it was always magically day there. In fact, if he looked outside the window of his large office, he would come face to face with a perfectly sunny day, magical trees swaying in a gentle, magical breeze. The dark-haired man chuckled. Apparently, the department that was responsible for their weather had finally gotten their raise in salary, because till just the day before yesterday they had had nothing but blizzards outside their windows. He put in order his papers, picked up his coat, and switched the lights off on his way outside with a quiet mumble of 'Nox'. After checking that the door was locked, he made his way towards the elevators to get back up, and into town.

Since the fiasco with Voldemort and his Death Eaters entering the Ministry, it was impossible to apparate in it's halls and rooms. Of course, Voldemort was no more, Harry had killed him like the Prophecy had foretold he would have to during what was supposed to be his seventh year in Hogwarts. Not that he had seen much of Hogwarts that year, what with chasing after the Horcruxes, and running from all the bounty-hunters. Dumbledore had died at the end of the schoolyear prior, leaving Harry and his friends to master such diffcult task alone. They had made it, of course, though they had lost many people on the way.

Pushing those sad, sad thoughts away, Harry Potter hurried down the hall. He pushed the button to call the elevator, but once it's door opened a small airplane made out of paper rushed out, and flew directly into his hand. He opened it, only to groan as he read that he was supposed to meet the Minister of Magic- Shacklebolt- in his office immediately. Not that he didn't like Shacklebolt, they were good friends actually, but it was already half past midnight, he hadn't slept in three days due to unresolved cases of murder, and he really wanted to just go home.

But if the Minister called, the Minister called…

Grumbling, Harry entered the elevator, and pushed the button for the lowest lever, where the Department of Mysteries lay, as well as the offices of the Minister of Magic himself, and his closest assistants. Fortunately, Umbridge was not one of them anymore. He smiled as he remembered how the insufferable Toad-woman was fired shortly after Voldemort was defeated. The elevator stopped before he reached the lowest level, and Hermione 'boarded the ride', smiling at him, and kissing him for a 'hello' (1). Harry smiled into the kiss, before responding.

"Hey," he murmured softly as they separated.

"Could you at least wait until you're home," Ron commented from the door. They had reached the Department of Mysteries, and Ron had apparently already been waiting for them.

"Kingsley called you as well?" Harry asked, disentangling himself from his wife.

"Yeah, you too, huh?"

"Yep."

"Anyone know what this is about?" Hermione spoke up as they made their way to their friend's and boss' office.

The other two shook their heads.

"We'll just have to find out, then."

She knocked at the door, and was answered with a quiet "Come in!" by Kingsley's deep, smooth voice. When they entered, the first thing they noticed was that the older man looked very tired, drained. As if he had just gotten bad, bad news. He motioned for them to come closer, and take a seat. Obviously, this would take a while. Harry felt like groaning again. He was sure Fleur didn't mind at all looking after his and Hermione's children, but he was sure as hell they'd get berated for working till well into the night again, instead of stopping at a decent hour, and pick their children up to spend some time with them. His wife and his best friend seemed to think along those same lines, because both slumped into their seats infront of the Minister's desk.

"I have some good news, and some bad news," the man announced.

"Bad news first, please," all three asked.

"I was going to do it that way, anyway, as you need to hear the bad news to understand the good ones." Kingsley smiled at them sympathetically, like he always did when he was about to tell them that they had to pull extra shifts… "You won't be working on those murder cases anymore-"

"And that is bad news, how?" Ron queried.

"The bad news is… We have a renegade shinobi in our country. A- to S-rank criminal to be exact."

Their ears perked up.

"A shinobi?"

"From Konoha, yes."

"That's where-"

"Where the guards in your fifth year at Hogwarts came from, yes."

"And the good news?" Harry asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had seen what those guards were capable of, and if this guy was anything like them… they were in deep shit!!!

"We've got help," Kingsley told them, indicating at a shadowed corner of his office. "Tigress has been sent to capture the traitor."

Three heads whipped around simultaneosly as one light step resounded loudly in the whole room. Out of the shadows emerged a young woman, probably just a little older than them when they first met a shinobi, in knee-high black boots, skin-tight black pants, and shirt. A bone-white armor covered her chest, and a feline mask with black swirls shielded her face. One of her gloved hands was casually placed against her hip, while the other was hanging by her side, un-used.

Kokoro almost laughed as she watched the three wizards with closed eyes- her mother's eyes- while they stared at her blankly for a minute. She knew what they were looking at, what made them gasp in realization, once they were done taking in her standard ANBU attire. They were looking at her neck, where her loosely bound, long, smooth hair was laid around her throat like a scarf. It wasn't the only thing in which she resembled her father, but it was probably the most outstanding, especially since they had barely met her a minute ago. So, she let them stare mouth agape at her hair.

And who could blame them?!?

It was silver.

**End of "Hogwarts' ANBU" !**

**A/N: Well, that's it. :) This was the last chapter of HA- also the longest chapter of the whole story- and I hope you liked it. Please leave a review, and tell me what you think.**

**(1) I just can't see her with Ron, just like I can't imagine Harry with Ginny. Sorry.**


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